A Different Path
by Blood Thirsty Angle
Summary: What if Josh had gone with Dee at the very end of the Alchemyst? Would the prophecy be completed? Or would the twins stand divided against each other forever? *Sort of an alternate ending? Title and Summary subjected to changing.*
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's note:**__ Yeah, hello everyone! This is my first SINF fanfic, so I'm really looking forward to working on this. I just finished the Enchantress and I don't know if it was just me, but I felt disappointed that Dee died. Granted, it would have probably happened anyway, but he was one of my top favorite characters next to Josh. Anyway, I was sitting in math class a few days ago, and while I was sitting there, I thought "hey, what if Josh actually went with Dee much earlier on in the series? Then what would have happened?"_

_So, this is my brain child. It shall start towards the end of The Alchemist and will start to differ from then on. If you have any questions concerning the plot or something of that sort, please feel free to PM me. I am nice person ^^_

_**Warnings: **__Well, not now, but I'll warn you when we get there_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own The secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flamel series. The series belongs respectfully to Michael Scott, for without him; this series would have never come to exist._

_**(June 1)**_

The door gave a slight ringing sound as it swung open by a very red faced teenager. He walked across the gravel of the road breathing heavily. His throat felt raw with embarrassment and the jingling door chimes seemed to mock him. The wind blew his blonde hair, and the sunlight hurt his eyes as he stared up at it, trying to calm his pounding heart.

The boy, Josh Newman, sighed. He hoped the embarrassment would end soon, but the witch's words still rang in his head.

"_You have to leave. What I teach is not for the ears of a humani."_

A humani. She had said that as if it was a bad thing. It wasn't his fault that the Yggdrasill had been attacked before Hekate could awaken him. He swallowed the anger down as he kicked the dirt across the gravel. He was angry with all of them. Flamel, Scatty, the witch…but most surprisingly, he was angry with Sophie. When he had been forced to leave, she had said nothing.

The witch, the way she spoke, made it sound like Sophie was no longer a human. Well, entirely human. He wouldn't deny it, her newly awakened powers were extraordinary, but they made her so different. She was…one of _them_.

He gave another sigh and continued to walk towards the park across the road. The summer breeze blew again, bringing the sounds of the kids playing nearby at the playground and the chuckles of two elderly men as they sat on a park bench reminiscing about the old times. Josh frowned and sat in front of the park fountain, watching the water as it swirled around and reflected the sunlight.

He still could not shake off the fact that everything he had known was gone. All the work his parents had done was a lie, and every myth and legend was supposedly real. His head was beginning to hurt with all this new knowledge, every word that Flamel or even Scatty ever said, was swimming around in his mind. All he wanted to do was erase the memories of the previous day and go home. Go back to Aunt Agnes' house, crawl into his bed, and go to sleep and wake up thinking it was just a dream.

Josh smiled at the ironic thought, though it was short lived. Deep down, a small voice that sounded ironically like Sophie's, told him his life was never going to be the same again. There was no going back now.

He looked back at the fountain, approving at way they were designed. Two flower-shaped bowls, one larger than the other, were set in the center of a circular pool. Water spouted from the top bowl and flowered over the sides into the largest bowl beneath. In then overturned into the pool. He found that the sound drowned out the nearby traffic noises, and the noises swimming around in his head.

He stood up and walked toward the promenade near the antique shop. He remembered seeing an ice cream parlor and thought that maybe a bit of ice cream would cheer him up. He practically worshiped ice cream. Sophie was the one who didn't like it very much.

His finger tapped the menu: Blueberry chocolate chip.

He reached his hand towards the back of his jeans…and felt a rising moment of panic when he realized that his wallet was not there. Where had he put it? The car…the shop…?

And then it hit him.

The last place he had seen his wallet, iPod, cell phone, and laptop, was in his bed room in the Yggdrasill. He practically wanted to pull his hair and scream in frustration. All his important things belonged in those items. Losing his wallet was bad enough, but his laptop was a disaster. Unfinished honors projects, pictures of his family from the past three years and at least sixty gigs of MP3s. He didn't remember the last time he had backed up, but it had not been recently. He already felt ill, and the sweet smell of ice cream was not helping.

Miserable, he walked back to the corner and crossed at the lights facing the post office, then turned left towards the park. The park was quiet now. The children playing nearby sounded distant. The trio of old men sitting nearby was now gathered on a shady bench. One of them was feeding bread crumbs to a couple of fat pigeons.

Josh closed his eyes and sat at the edge of the water fountain. He brought the water up to his face and put the droplets through his hair and neck. The cool water felt good on his warm skin, refreshing him.

What was he going to do?

Was there anything he could do?

He knew deep down that he had lost his twin. She had changed in ways that he could not imagine. Why hadn't Hekate been able to awaken him as well? What would have it been like to been awakened first? Would it be like to have those powers? Even though they were making Sophie sick, he was still jealous that she was able to do extraordinary things with them.

"Are you a victim too?"

He jumped at the sound of the voice, realizing that there was a man sitting right next to him in a light gray suit. He remembered the golden rule his parents had taught him when he was younger. You never entered conversation with them, or even replied to them.

"It seems we are all victims of Nicholas Flamel."

Josh slowly raised his head, surprised to see the man he never hoped to see again. Dr. John Dee. The last time he had seen the man was in Hekate's shadowrelm holding the sword Excalibur. Now he was looking right at him, his tailored suit looking slightly out of place. Josh looked around quickly, expecting to see Golems, or worse, the Morrigan.

"I'm alone," Dee affirmed pleasantly, smiling politely.

Josh's mind was spinning again. He needed to get to Flamel, even though he wanted nothing to do with the man. Though, if he did go, would Dee stop him with his magic?

"Do you know how long I've been chasing Nicholas Flamel, or Nick Fleming, or any of the hundred other alias he's used?" Dee carried on conversationally. "At least five hundred years. And he's always given me the slip. He's tricky and dangerous in that way. In 1666, when I was closing in on him in London, he set a fire that nearly burned the city to the ground."

"He told us you caused the Great fire," Josh blurted out, but then felt rather stupid. What if he offended Dee and the older man decided to use his magic on him? "Nothing is at seems. Question everything." He found himself saying, and shivered as the remaining bits of sunlight began to set over head. Strangely, he didn't feel threatened by the man's presence. He felt almost…comfortable.

Dee's thin lips turned into a smile. "Flamel never tells anyone everything. I used to say that half of everything he said was a lie, and the other half was entirely truthful either."

"Nicholas says you're working with the Dark Elders. Once you have the rest of the Codex, you will bring them back to the world."

"Correct in every detail," Dee commented in a tone that surprised Josh. "Though no doubt Nicholas has twisted the story somewhat. I _am_ working with the Elders, and yes, I am looking for the last two pages from the Book of Abraham the Mage, commonly called the Codex. But only because Flamel and his wife stole it from the original Bibliotheque du Roi in the Louvre."

"He _stole _it?"

"Let me tell you about Nicholas Flamel," Dee said gently. "I'm sure he's told you about me. He has been many things in his time: a physician, and a cook, a bookseller, a soldier, a teacher of languages and chemistry, both and officer of the law and a thief. But he is now, and always has been a liar, a charlatan, and a crook. He stole the book from the Louvre when he discovered that it contained the immortality potion, and the philosopher's stone recipe. He uses them to keep himself and Perenelle immortal and turn stone formulas into cheap copper and lead into gold, and coal into diamonds."

"And what of Scatty and Hekate? Are they Elders?"

"Oh absolutely. Hekate was an Elderand Scathach is a Next Generation. But Hekate was a known criminal. She was banished from Danu Talis because of her experiments on animals. I suppose you would call her a genetic engineer: she created the Were clans, for example, and loosed the curse of the werewolf onto humanity. I believe you saw some of her experiments yesterday, the boar people. Scathach is nothing more than a hired thug, cursed for her crimes to wear the body of a teen for the rest of her days. When Flamel knew I was closing in, they were the only people he could go to."

Josh was now beyond confused. He wanted to believe everything Dee was telling him, but a part deep inside him still trusted Flamel. Just a little bit. "What about you? Are you really working to bring back the Elders?"

"Of course I am," Dee responded smoothly. "It is probably the single most important thing I can do for this world."

"Flamel says the Elders-or Dark Elders, he calls them-would destroy the world."

Dee shook his head. "Believe me when I tell you that he's lying to you. The Elders would be able to change this world for the better," his fingers moved in the water, the ripples were mesmerizing. Josh could see images forming, the pictures moving and matching Dee's every world. "In the ancient past, earth was a paradise. It had an incredibly advanced technology, but the air was clean, the water pure, and the seas unpolluted."

Dee had cleared his throat, moving his hand again in the water. "Not only did the Elder Race shape this world, they even nudged a primitive hominid on the road to evolution. The Elders were driven out form this paradise by the foolish superstition of the mad Abraham and the spells in the Codex. The Elders did not die-it takes a lot to kill one of the Elder Race-they simply waited. They knew that someday mankind would come to its senses and call them back to save the earth."

A lot of what Dee said sounded plausible, or so Josh thought. The images in the water were beautiful. Almost the kind of pictures one would see in a picture book. The earth was beautiful, untouched by all the foulness people had put in it.

"If we can bring them back, the Elders have the powers and abilities to reshape this world. They can make the deserts bloom…"

An image appeared showing a barren desert forming into a beautiful oasis. And then it appeared to show a hurricane head towards the Gulf of Mexico, but Dee spoke again. "They can control the weather," and the storm vanished.

Dee's fingers moved again and there appeared the unmistakable image of a hospital sign with a long row of empty beds.

"And they can cure disease. Remember, these beings were worshipped as gods because of their powers. And these are the ones Flamel is trying to stop us from bringing back to the world."

It took Josh ages to form the single word question. "Why? He blurted out, not imagining why Flamel would not want a perfect world like that.

"Because he has masters, Elders like Hekate and the Witch of Endor, for example, who want the world to dissolve into chaos and anarchy. When that happens, they can come out of the shadows and declare themselves rulers of the earth," he shook his head sadly. "It pains me to say this, but Flamel does not care about you, nor does he care about your sister. He put her in terrible danger today simply to roughly awaken her powers. The Elders I work with take three days to bring someone through the awakening ceremony."

"Three days," Josh mumbled. "Flamel said there was no one else in North America who could awaken me." He found it hard to not believe Dee, but everything he said sounded so reasonable. And Dee was appearing to be honest with him, giving him the whole truth about things.

"Another lie. My Elders could awaken you. And they could do it properly and safely. It is, after all, such a dangerous process."

Dee got up slowly, walking around slowly to crouch right beside Josh, bringing his steel colored eyes level with his. Fog was beginning to thicken and swirl around the fountain. Dee's voice was like silk, rich and smooth. "What's your name?" he asked, his voice as gentle as the water.

"Josh."

"Josh," Dee echoed. "Where is Flamel now?"

A very faint alarm bell rang in the back of his mind, but it was very, very distant. He couldn't trust Dee. He shouldn't trust Dee…and yet so much of what he said had a hint of truth in it.

"Where is he, Josh?"

Josh shook his head. Even though he believed Dee, he wanted to talk to Sophie first. He needed her advice and opinions before doing anything. And it was the same with her too.

"Tell me," Dee lifted his limp hand and placed it in the pool. The ripples settled into the image of a small antiques shop filled with glassware, directly across from the park. Dee let a triumphant grin settle on his face before coming to his feet and staring at the road ahead.

"You sit here and enjoy the pretty pictures," Dee purred, patting Josh's shoulder. "I'll be back for you shortly."

* * *

Perhaps driving the van over the group of zombies was not a particularly good idea. Granted, Josh thought it was the only way to save everyone, but still. He stepped out of the driver's side, shaky from all the driving and the creatures coming at him. Sophie was at his side immediately, her eyes filled with tears.

"I've wrecked the car," he said simply.

Sophie screamed in joy, but it then turned to horror has a skeletal bear had risen from the ground behind him. Scatty moved, hitting him hard and shoving him out of the way as her swords took off the bear's claws.

The skeletal animals were climbing to their feet, all of them not looking so happy about being attacked. The sound of the antique shop door opened could be heard faintly among the growling. "This way. Here! This way!" The Witch called out.

Scatty supported Flamel and Josh half carried his twin as they raced towards the shop. The Witch was standing in the doorway, looking blindly into the night with an old fashioned oil lantern. "We've got to get you out of here," she pulled the door closed and locked the bolts. "That won't hold them long."

"You said…you said you have no powers left," Sophie muttered tiredly.

"I don't," The Witch flashed a grin. "But this place has," she led them into a tiny back room. "Do you know what makes Ojai so special?" she asked. "It is built on an intersection of ley lines."

Josh opened his mouth, his lips forming _ley_ but Sophie cut him off. "Lines of energy that crisscross the globe."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know; I guess the Witch taught me. Many of the most famous buildings and ancient sites across the world are built where the ley lines meet."

"Exactly," The Witch said, sound pleased. "Couldn't have put it better myself." The store room was bare except for a long rectangle propped up against the wall, covered in a back issue of Ojai's newspaper. She swept the papers to the ground to reveal a mirror. It stood seven feet tall, four feet wide, the glass dirty, speckled and warped, the images it showed slightly distorted and blurred. "And do you know what drew me to Ojai in the first place? Seven great ley lines meet here. They form a leygate."

"Here?" Flamel whispered.

The Witch nodded, her foot tapping the ground. "Right here. And do you know how you use a leygate?"

Flamel shook his head.

The Witch reached for Sophie's hand. "Give me your hand, child." She took it and put it on the glass. "You use a mirror."

The mirror immediately came to life, the glass flaring silver and then clearing. When they looked into the glass, it no longer showed their reflections, but rather the image of a bare, cellar like room.

"Where?" Flamel asked.

"Paris."

"France," Flamel smiled brightly. "Home."

He stepped into the mirror without hesitation. They could see him on the other side and he turned, waving them through. Scatty groaned annoyance on her face. "I hate leygates," she muttered, but stepped through anyway. "Make me nauseous."

The Witch took Sophie and pushed her through the mirror, noticing that she was hesitant. Sophie tumbled to the ground at Flamel's feet, and then crouched to turn and look back. Her mouth moved, but there was no sound.

Josh gulped, getting ready to go through, but a voice stopped him. "Josh," Dee commanded, staring at him intently. "Stay where you are."

Josh turned to the glass, noticing in panic that the figures were starting to blur. "I've told you the truth about Flamel," Dee said urgently. "Stay with me. I can awaken you. Make you powerful. You can help change the world, Josh. Change it for the better!"

The offer was tempting. "I don't know," Josh muttered. He knew if he sided with Dee, he would lose Sophie altogether. Or would he? If The Magician awakened him, they would be alike again. Maybe this was how he could reconnect with her!

"Look," Dee started triumphantly, pointing at the fading pictures. "They've left you, deserted you again, because you are not one of them. You're no longer important."

Josh turned back towards the mirror, which was now beginning to flicker. The witch narrowed her unseeing eyes at him. "What are you waiting for, you foolish boy?" she snapped. "Go!"

Josh felt torn. He looked back at Dee, and then he looked back at the mirror. He bit his lip, frustration rising within him. What was the right thing to do? He couldn't trust Flamel, and he certainly shouldn't trust Dee, but the Englishman made so much more sense than he did.

And then there was Sophie. Everything always seemed to lead back to Sophie. If he went with Dee, then he would be leaving Sophie all alone with Flamel. At the same time, however, Sophie never seemed to doubt what Flamel was saying to her and trusted him so blindedly.

Plus, he always kind of wondered what it would be like to go off and do things by himself. To just be _Josh Newman, _for once. Not Sophie and Josh. Just Josh. He loved his sister, but he was tired of being compared with or to her.

"Well Josh? What is your answer?" Dee asked, confidence now rising in his voice.

"Go into the mirror!" the witch lunged forward, grabbing him by the back of his shirt. "Do not trust that man!"

"Think about it for a second. I can awaken you! You can be like your sister again!"

Josh looked at Dee with wide eyes. If Dee could awaken him, he could be like his sister again! They wouldn't be strangers. He stepped closer to Dee, who had outstretched his hand. "I…" the mirror flickered again, the barest trace of silver beginning to show. "I'll go with you."

The mirror flickered out of existence and the witch looked at Josh in horror. "You've got about three seconds to run," she whispered. "Child, you've made a terrible mistake."

They were barely out of the store when it exploded.

* * *

**Word Count: 3,653**

_Well, there you go. A first chapter of 3,528 words. For me, that is quite a lot. Most chapters are around 2,000 at the most. Anyway, review! I do love them! No rude comments or anything of that sort please! I don't really know where this is going yet, so any suggestions or ideas would be wonderful! _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's note: **__Thanks for the reviews! I was actually planning on making this all in Josh's point of view, but then I began to think about the other characters' reactions. Like Sophie for example. What would her feelings be while her brother is with Dee earlier on in the series? So, I will be adding other characters' point of views every now and then. I'm so excited to be in The Magician section right now. I love Joan of Arc! She's so awesome and cool! And for a cool fact, I did my Idol/Hero speech on her when I was a freshman in high school. I got an A+ on it_

_**Warnings: **__None_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own the sandbox. I just jump the fence to play in it._

* * *

_**(Saturday, June 2, Paris France)**_

"JOSH! JOSH!"

Sophie scrambled up from where she had landed when she'd stepped through the leygate. She rushed to the grimy old mirror that was placed on the stony wall. "JOSH!" she screamed again. "JOSH!" She beat her fists against the mirror, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Josh…."

Nicholas looked pale as he wiped his hands against his black jeans and even Scathach looked as if she were about to throw up. In the dark, her freckled skin looked green. "Josh," she murmured and then switched to the language of her youth.

Sophie continued to beat her hands against the mirror. "JOSH, JOSH, JOSH!"

"Sophie," Nicholas placed his hands on her shoulders, pulling the blonde haired teen away from the mirror. "Sophie, I need you to calm down."

Sophie thrashed against him and he grimaced, his arms feeling more brittle and frail than they were before. "I want my brother!" Sophie cried, her eyes turning into silver disks that illuminated the tear marks on her cheeks. "I want Josh! Where is he?"

"Back in Ojai," Scathach responded miserably, placing a hand over her mouth. "In Dee's possession. And who knows where they are by now."

That didn't seem to help. Sophie let out a war cry and continued to fight against Nicholas' hold. Nicholas took a deep breath as Sophie's aura flared around her, the scent of vanilla that was usually sweet now sour. "Sophie, calm down," he commanded sternly. "Now."

"Nicholas!" Scathach reprimanded, drawing Sophie away from him and wrapping her arms protectively around the girl. "She's in shock. She just saw her brother, her _twin_; disappear right in front of her. You have no idea how that feels," she added darkly, green eyes glowing in the dark. "What we need to do is get her somewhere safe. She's drawing attention to us as we speak."

Nicholas stared at the two girls before nodding, running a hand through his black hair. "You're right, you're right," he took another deep breath. "Right now, we need to asses where we are. I believe we are in an old building."

Sophie sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I'm not so sure," she said hesitantly. "I can hear voices, songs, and organ music. I think we're in a Church."

Nicholas reached for the door handle, nodding in agreement. Scathach frowned, narrowing her eyes. "This church is fairly new. Wouldn't there be a security alarm?"

"Oh I doubt it," Nicholas said confidently. "Who would put a security alarm in the storeroom of a church?"

Right when he pulled it, the alarm went off and red lights went off around the whole area.

Scathach rolled her eyes, muttering in an ancient Celtic language. "Didn't you tell me once to wait before moving, to look before stepping and to observe everything?"

Nicholas sighed and shook his head. "Getting old, I guess," he said in the same language. "Let's go!" He pulled the two girls along to the entrance of the church, pulling hard on the handle. "I don't understand. Why won't it open? The Church is always open. Wait, what time is it?"

Sophie frowned. "How long does it take to travel from one place to another through a leygate?"

"It's instantaneous."

"And you're sure we're in Paris France?"

"Positive."

Sophie looked at her watch and did a quick calculation. "Paris is nine hours ahead of Ojai. It's about four o'clock in the morning; that's why the church is closed."

Scathach groaned. "The police will be on their way. And the doors are locked. Wonderful."

Sophie looked at her hands. "I could try to blast the doors down with wind." she suggested hesitantly.

"I forbid it!" Nicholas practically shouted. "This is a national monument; I'll not let you destroy it. This, is the church of Sacré-Coeur." He said proudly.

Scathach raised her head, sniffing the air and hissed, drawing her swords. "I smell trouble," she growled as Sophie and Nicholas sniffed as well. "Big trouble."

"Snake," Sophie whispered. "It's a snake."

Tears welled up in her eyes again. Josh hated snakes; even more than scorpions. The very thought of a snake reminded her of him and her heart ached. All her life, her brother had been told to protect her, even though she was older. And she couldn't even protect her beloved little brother. He'd always looked out for her and she failed him. The knowledge of that stung and hurt her worse than she could ever imagine.

"We'll get him back," Scathach whispered in her ear. "I promise you. And I always keep my promises."

Sophie gave the vampire a shaky smile, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I just hope he's okay," she felt her chest constrict and nausea setting in her stomach. "Josh isn't stupid, but he does stupid things. And always when I'm not there."

* * *

**(Friday, June 1, Ojai California, USA)**

They were half way out of the shop's main entrance when it exploded.

Josh went tumbling down into the asphalt, yelping in pain as his shin and palms scraped against the rough ground. The heat washed over him and dirt covered his face, his eyes blinking rapidly from the dust that settled around. He had no idea if the witch made it out or not and quite frankly, he didn't really care.

He got up slowly, thanking his lucky stars that nothing was broken. As the dust cleared, he noticed Dee get up, groaning a little as he wiped the dirt off his gray suit. "I really liked this suit," the English man grumbled. "Now it's all ruined."

Josh looked at the Magician with wide eyes. "Is the witch…?"

"Dead? No, most likely not. How she escaped, I have no idea."

Josh stepped closer to the Magician, looking terribly disoriented. "Now what? Where do we go? Do we follow Flamel? Do we head somewhere else?"

Dee waved his hand at him, pulling out his cell phone. "Slow down; one question at a time," he punched a few numbers in his phone, not looking at Josh as he spoke. "First of all, I need a new suit. And you need to put on something else. Second, we will follow Flamel to Paris. I still need the rest of the codex after all and perhaps we can convince we can convince your sister…what's her name?"

"Sophie."

"Sophie, to join our side. Think about it, if she could see Flamel for what he truly is, don't you think she'd want to be on our side? To be with her brother again?"

Josh found himself nodding. "It makes sense," he admitted. "But how are we getting there?"

"By plane, of course. I hate flying, but I will admit it is most convenient at times."

The sound of sirens began to wail and Dee pulled his hand, dragging him away from the scene as a black limousine appeared. "We need to get away from here," The Magician said smoothly, opening the door to allow Josh inside. "We don't have a moment to lose."

Josh watched as he snapped something to the driver before leaning back into his seat. Looking closer, Josh noticed that the driver looked fairly normal for a driver of a limousine, though he had learned recently that nothing was as it appeared to be. The driver looked up at him through the rear view mirror and he swore that he could see a third eye appearing in the middle of his forehead.

"So-" Josh began, quickly turning away from the driver, but only to be cut off by Dee. The man was in a phone call, speaking in a language that Josh had never heard of. From what he could tell, from the tone of his voice, that The Magician was not at all happy.

Suddenly, he stood straight up, the light in his eyes dancing. "The Comte de Saint-Germain? He's back in Paris? I heard he had died in India looking for the lost city of Ophir."

The voice on the other end spoke and Dee snarled. "Don't let them escape this time," he ordered. "Our masters will not be pleased.

Josh blinked. "Who was that?"

Dee leaned back in his seat, flashing him a quick smile. "That was an accomplice of mine. A man named Niccolò Machiavelli. You have heard of him, haven't you?"

Niccolò Machiavelli. The name sounded familiar. He could swear he had heard his parents talk about him before. "I think so," he said uncertainly. "My parents might have mentioned him before. Wasn't he Portuguese?"

Dee let out a laugh, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "He'd probably be offended if he heard you say that. No, he's Italian, and probably the second most dangerous immortal in Europe next to me," he added arrogantly.

"And you two don't get along?"

"Not really. We don't exactly see eye to eye, but he's on the same side as me. But he's not all too fun to be around."

Josh wasn't too sure that Dee was exactly fun to be around either, but he kept that thought to himself. So far, the English man had been kind to him and he wasn't going to reverse that. He'd seen what the man could do and he didn't want it to happen to him. "So how long until we reach my sister?"

Dee looked at his expensive watch. "Oh, I'd say about fifteen or fourteen hours. My jet is fueled and ready to go by the time we reach the airport."

Josh grinned. "Great!" If they could get on the plane right away, he would be with his sister again!

And then his stomach growled.

Dee let a brief smirk cross his face. "Of course we should probably get something to eat. I'm sure there is something at the airport."

And Josh knew exactly what he wanted. "McDonalds."

* * *

Dee watched with concealed disgust as Josh took a huge bite out of his Big Mac and chewed it for the longest of time. He normally hated going to McDonalds and only went to it if it were a last resort. Normally he'd get one of his interns to bring him something, but if he wanted the boy to remain on his side, it was best to just give him this little reward.

Sighing tiredly, he looked down at his plain old chicken wrap and fizzy drink. Surprisingly, these were the only two tolerable things that McDonalds had ever created. How the humani could stand the smell of grease and fried food was beyond him. Look how fat it made them! He wondered who's bright idea was it to make fast food, but deemed it wasn't important at the moment.

Josh took a long swig of water, the burger half-finished on his wrapper. "It seems like it's been forever since I've had real food."

Dee raised an eyebrow at this. "I don't know if you can consider this "real food." It's not exactly…appetizing."

Josh shrugged. "It's appetizing to me. Sophie wouldn't like it now, though. She used to adore Big Macs, but now she probably can't stand them. Do all immortals hate meat?"

Dee shook his head, waving his chicken wrap. "Obviously not, since I am eating a type of meat right now. It just smells different to her right now. Eventually, she might eat it again, though she wouldn't be the first immortal to become vegetarian."

Josh made a face, taking another large bite. "What's it like to be awakened?" he asked between bites.

Dee wanted to make a comment about talking while eating, but decided it would probably be a moot point. "It's different for everyone. But everyone feels disoriented at first; like their head will explode from all their heightened abilities."

"Did you feel that way to?"

Dee paused, his chicken wrap half way to his mouth. He looked at the boy, who looked at him with wide blue eyes. For just the tiniest moment, the boy reminded him of his youngest son, Nicolas. Just like Josh, Nicolas would look at him with wide blue eyes whenever he had a question. Shaking his head to erase the thought, he then nodded. "Yes, it was like that for me too. I felt disoriented and sick. Though since your sister is a silver, she's probably fine."

Josh tilted his head. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're silver and gold," he explained smoothly. "The twins of legend. You two do have two of the most rarest and powerful auras in the world, after all."

Josh nodded slowly, finishing his fries. "What aura is the rarest and most powerful?"

"Black," Dee answered quickly. "But I don't recall who was the last person to have a black aura. And if you want to get technical, an aura with a rainbow hue is even rarer. The only one with a rainbow aura is Iris."

"The goddess of the rainbow," Josh murmured. "That's pretty cool."

Dee only nodded, finishing his wrap. "Now hurry up and finish," he commanded briskly. "We do have a flight to catch."

With that, Josh shoved the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth, getting up and following the Magician to his jet where the city of Paris, with all its immortals and elders, awaited them.

* * *

**Word count: 2,465**

_Thanks for the reviews everyone! Even if you don't like Dee (because even I will admit he is a ass hat) I hope you still stick with this! And just because you guys are so awesome, have some virtual chocolate chip cookies! *Hands out cookies._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note: **__Thanks for the reviews! You all are so nice and awesome ^^ so I will grant you another update. We'll see Machiavelli in this chapter as well as Joan and Saint-Germain, who are three of my other favorite characters. I can't wait till I can add Billy in all of this, but I'm kind of nervous on writing him. I'm not good at humor :/ but I'll try!_

_**Warnings: **__Well, none. There probably won't be any warnings at all._

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own SOTINF and never will. Really, do you see me as Michael Scott?_

* * *

_**(Friday, June 1, USA at San Francisco airport)**_

"_They're in Saint-Germain's town house off the Champs Elysées. Don't worry, Doctor, we have the house under observation. Saint-Germain, Scathach, and the humani girl are inside. There are no other occupants."_

Dee glared at the wall across from him, squeezing his eyes shut for a minute as the jet rose into the air. When the jet leveled a bit, he spoke again. "And the Alchemyst?"

"_Lost in Paris. My men had him on the ground at gun point, but he somehow coated them in sugar and then unleashed every ant in the city onto them. They panicked; he escaped."_

"Transmutation," he grumbled, annoyance creeping into his voice. "Water is composed of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen: sucrose has the same ratio. He changed the water into sugar; it's a parlor trick. I would have expected more from him."

"_I thought it was rather clever myself. He hospitalized six police officers."_

Dee sighed into the other end. "He will return to the girl. He's going to put an even tighter hold on her now that I've got the boy."

"_How you managed to get him away from his sister like that amazes me to no end. Does he really have a solid gold aura?"_

"Yes. You saw that his twin sister has a pure silver aura, didn't you? These truly are the twins of legend."

"_How do you plan on awakening the boy? I don't recall any elders in Paris that could awaken him._

Dee smiled cruelly. "Oh, I know of one."

"_Who?"_

"The Elder Mars."

The line went silent on the other end for a minute before Machiavelli drew in a sharp breath. _"Mars is in Paris? Where?"_

Dee only continued smiling. "I'll explain more when we get into Paris. Do nothing until we get there."

The Italian began to say something, but Dee snapped his phone shut before he could say anything. His stomach lurched as the plane rose higher into the air, the contents of his dinner swimming around before settling down again as the jet evened out. He leaned back into the soft leather seat, watching the sparkling grid of L.A.'s lights disappear. The gleamed gold throughout the dark sky, almost as bright as the boy sitting across from him.

He looked over at Josh, who had fallen asleep the minute he'd boarded the jet. He looked almost peaceful, except his brow would furrow from time to time and he would mutter the name Sophie every now and then. His blonde hair needed to be trimmed, as it was sticking to his eyelids, which was no doubt annoying at times. That was why Dee kept his hair jelled back. He couldn't have trifle things like bangs kept in his way when trying to do something.

Closing his own eyes, feeling fatigue settle in, Dee began to think some more. He was not looking forward to working with Machiavelli. He disliked the Italian almost as much as he disliked the Flamels, who were at the very top of his dislike list. He could understand his masters' reasons for wanting him to work with him. It wasn't as if the Italian was inefficient, but he wasn't always willing to take huge risks. Dee would do whatever it took to get something done, even if it meant hurting innocent humani. Machiavelli was not quite as willing.

The jet rose again and he clenched his fists on the arm rest. He was looking forward to the time when the elders returned. Perhaps they could find a better way to fly that would make him feel less queasy. He knew from many myths and legends that the elders had been quite advanced in technology. The earth had been a paradise once, and they had promised him they would make it a paradise again.

He didn't fully understand why the Flamels didn't want that. Sure, the humani population would suffer, but for a greater cost. It was a small price to pay for many benefits. The Flamels, in his opinion, were selfish and cruel, but he would be sure to ask Nicholas why he had worked so hard to prevent him from bringing the elders back.

Right before he killed him, of course.

* * *

_**(Sunday, June 3, at Joan and Saint-Germain's house, Paris)**_

_***Quick note: I did some time skipping to go along with the different time zones going on. So right now, Josh and Dee are in Paris at this point. I hope this isn't confusing you guys!***_

Sophie's ragged scream jolted Joan away book, a tremor running through her body as the child let out another cry. She threw the book on the couch, running quickly up the stairs to where the girl was sleeping in the guest room. She was twitching around, tears streaming down her face as the nightmare continued to go through her body.

It was a little after midnight on a Sunday, but the girl had been sleeping all through yesterday. The exhaustion of using her aura and running around the city had drained her emotionally and physically. Not to mention her own brother had disappeared before her in the blink of an eye. She could not even begin to imagine the stress that was running through the poor girl and it pained her.

She went to the bed, taking Sophie's hand in hers. Her own silver aura gathered in her hand, looking like a soft gray glove. Sophie's aura took on the same color and soon, the whole room smelled of vanilla and lavender. The floor board creaked again as her husband, Saint-Germain, appeared in the doorway. She looked at him with eyes looking like silver coins. "_Je croyais que tu dormais, ma chérie,_" she stated calmly. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "Isn't it past yours?" he teased lightly before his smile turned into a serious frown. "Is she alright?"

Joan looked back to Sophie, smoothing the girl's blonde hair. "She's having a nightmare. As we speak, it is already passing and it will not return," she vowed, making the sentence into a promise. "As of what caused it, I do not know."

Saint-Germain crossed his arms, leaning against the door frame. "It still bothers me that her brother went to Dee. And willingly too. Do you think the fact that her brother abandoned her is the reason for the nightmare?"

Joan shook her head, concern crossing her features. "I can't say. I believe it is the memories of the witch plaguing her mind. The witch has seen a lot of things in her life time you know. But it could be the fact that her brother left her," she paused as Sophie let out a whimper. "Poor thing; she's been through a lot it such a short amount of time."

"Nicholas told me once that Dee is very persuasive. He must have said something to make him stay behind, but what? How could Josh leave his sister, his _twin, _behind?"

Joan pursed her lips. "Whatever it was, it worked. It saddens me, but I won't judge him just yet. I believe he was vulnerable and Dee took advantage of it," she looked annoyed at the thought of the English man. "He will pay for all the terrible things he's done. That I will promise you."

Saint Germain nodded. "He will."

She let a gentle smile cross her face. "Now I need you to leave. I have to say some things to Sophie. Private things."

He grinned, waving to her as he stepped away from the door frame. "Make sure they're appropriate!"

Joan shooed him away, muttering something in French before leaning down and whispering in Sophie's ear, her aura gently pulsing as Sophie's breathing evened out. Closing her eyes, she prayed to God to look after boy. And she prayed he wouldn't get into too much trouble.

* * *

_**(Sunday, June 3, Machiavelli's home off the Place du Canada)**_

"Man, this place is huge!"

Josh circled around the enormously large room with an astonished look plastered onto his face. He flopped onto his bed, running his hands over the black silk sheets. He'd only slept on a bed with silk sheets once and he had loved it. It made him feel like a rich billionaire rather than a fifteen year old boy. But the bed wasn't the only impressive thing. Oh no, the whole house was impressive. A huge, ornate fountain was the first thing he saw, along with trimmed hedges and white roses planted along the area. The room he was staying in was grand, with a balcony overlooking the Seine and famous pictures that he knew had to be real. He didn't know how rich Machiavelli was, but he had no doubt in mind that over 480 years of immortality could make a man very, very rich.

"Sophie would think this place is cool," he muttered to himself and his heart dropped a little. He'd been trying hard not to think of his sister, but it was proving to be nearly impossible. He wondered how she was doing, but then shook his head. This was his adventure, a chance to be Josh Newman. _Just Josh, _for once and not be in Sophie's shadow.

He walked over to the balcony, opening the glass doors and stepped out to look towards the river. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, covering it with his hand. The river smelled badly; as if someone had dumped an entire year's worth of sewage in it. Even the water looked as if it had a brownish texture to it, but that might have been because he could only see it from a distance.

What he could see though, was the figure of Dee resting against the balcony of his room. If Josh stepped out even further, the English man would be able to see him. Not knowing if Dee knew he was there or not, he quickly dashed back in his room. He still wasn't sure if he could trust the English immortal, but so far, he was proving to be more honest than Flamel.

A knock at the door jolted him away from his thoughts. He walked over, making sure to look as if he had been sleeping, and opened it to reveal Machiavelli's servant, Dagon. The man looked at him with a polite smile. "You and Dr. Dee are requested in the library. We have visitors."

"Who?" he asked, curiosity rising within him.

Dagon just smiled. "You'll see."

Josh only gulped and followed him out of the room. Before he could even blink, Dee and Machiavelli were by his side, both of them standing tall and proud. It was almost a funny sight; Machiavelli was taller than Dee by several inches and seemed a lot more patient that Dee. He caught Josh staring at him and smiled. "I hope you're finding things to be comfortable."

Josh nodded, embarrassment creeping into him. "Yeah, it's pretty comfy," he then corrected himself, knowing Sophie would have probably reprimanded him if she were here. "Thanks for letting us stay here."

"Ah, so manners haven't been lost on all the humani," Machiavelli glanced to Dee. "You could probably learn from him Doctor."

Dee only rolled his eyes, choosing not to comment. Dagon threw open the tall double doors and they walked into the ornate book-filled library to greet their visitors. Josh's jaw gaped a little in surprise. He'd been expecting creatures from some myth he knew to be in the room, not three young women. They were so alike; he thought they were triplets for a minute. Tall and thin, with shoulder length pale blonde hair. They were dressed in black tanks underneath black leather jackets and blue jeans tucked into knee-high boots. Their faces were all angles; sharp cheek bones, deeply sunken eyes, and pointed chins. The only thing that set them apart were there eyes, which ranged from the palest sapphire to deep, almost violet or indigo. They looked to be around sixteen or seventeen, but Josh instinctively knew they were older, much older.

"These are the Disir."

Josh looked to Dee, who had spoken. He had no idea what the Disir were, but the name did sort of ring a bell. Machiavelli walked to the center of the room, looking at them individually and trying to tell which one was the leader. One was sitting at the piano, another lounging on the sofa, and the other next to the window. Looking at them closely, Josh could see that each other of their nail polish matched their eyes.

"Thank you for coming," Machiavelli began in Latin.

The girls looked at him blankly.

Dagon began to speak to them the minute the Italian looked at him, pulling off his glasses and speaking a language no human tongue or throat could shape. Not surprisingly, the women ignored him.

Almost scaring Josh, Dee let out a dramatic sigh. He dropped into a high-backed leather armchair and clapped his small hands together with a sharp crack. "Enough of this nonsense," he said in English. "You're here for Scathach. Now, do you want her or not?"

The girl at the piano stopped playing, turning her head at an impossible angle. Josh felt his stomach lurch at the sight, but found he could not look away. Her indigo eyes bored into Dee's unblinkingly. "Where is she?" she asked in perfect English.

"Close by," Machiavelli answered, striding slowly around the room. Their eyes followed him as he moved around, like an owl cornering its prey.

"What is she doing?" The one on the couch asked, her eyes the color of a forest pool.

"She is protecting the Alchemyst Flamel, Saint Germain, and a humani girl," Machiavelli said smoothly. "We only want the humani girl and Flamel. Scathach is yours," he paused and then added. "You can have Saint-Germain, too, if you want him. He's no use to us."

"The Shadow. We just want the Shadow," the woman at the piano said. Her indigo tipped fingers moved across the keys, the song of Clair de Lune playing.

Machiavelli crossed to the side table and poured coffee from the tall silver pot. He looked to Dee and raised his eyebrows and the pot at the same time. Dee shook his head. "You would know that Scathach is still powerful," Machiavelli continued, looking to Josh with the coffee pot, but put it down when he shook his head. "She knocked out a unit of highly trained police officers yesterday morning."

"Humani," the Disir practically spat. "No humani can stand against the Shadow."

The Disir standing by the window stared at Machiavelli, pale blue eyes narrowed. "But we are not humani."

"We are the Disir," finished the woman sitting across from Dee. "We are the Shieldmaidens, the Choosers of the Dead, the Warriors of-"

"Yes, yes, yes," Dee grumbled impatiently. "We know who you are: Valkyries. Probably the greatest warriors the world has ever seen-according to yourselves, anyway. We want to know if you can defeat the Shadow."

Josh looked nervously at the Magician as the Disir with indigo eyes swiveled her body away from the piano and flowed smoothly to her feet. She stood before Dee, her sisters joining her at an inhuman speed. The temperature in the room abruptly plummeted.

The one with pale blue eyes spoke up. "It would be a mistake to mock us, Dr. Dee."

Dee only sighed. "Can you defeat the Shadow?" he asked again. "Because if you cannot, then I'm sure that there are others who would be only too delighted to try," he held up his cell phone. "I can call upon Amazons, Samurai and Bogatyrs."

The temperature continued to fall and Josh rubbed his bare arms, teeth now chattering. Even Machiavelli looked uncomfortable as he let out a shaky breath, crossing his arms to keep warm. Dee didn't look fazed, even as ice began to form on his eye brows and beard. "Enough of this trickery!" Dee snapped, his aura briefly flaring yellow. The room grew warm, then hot, heavy with the smell of rotten eggs.

"There is no need for these lesser warriors. The Disir will slay the Shadow," the one with forest pool eyes said.

"How?" Dee snapped again.

"We have what those other warriors have not."

"You're talking in riddles," Dee seethed impatiently, tapping his fingers against the armchair.

"Tell him," Machiavelli commanded.

The Disir with the palest eyes turned her head in his direction before looking back at Dee. Long fingers flickered towards his face. "You destroyed the Yggdrasill and released our pet creature, which had been long trapped in the roots of the World Tree."

A muscle twitched at the corner of Dee's mouth. "Nidhogg?" he looked at Machiavelli. "You knew about this?"

Machiavelli only nodded, glancing briefly at Josh. "Of course."

The Disir with indigo eyes stepped up to Dee and looked down at him. "Yes, you freed Nidhogg, the Devourer of Corpses," still leaning toward Dee, she moved her head to Machiavelli. Her sisters turned in his direction. "Take us to where the Shadow and the others are hiding, then leave us. Once we have loosed Nidhogg, Scathach is doomed."

Machiavelli tilted his head. "Can you control the creature?" he asked curiously.

"Once it feeds off the Shadow, consumes her memories and then her flesh and bones, it will need to sleep. After a feast like Scathach, it will probably sleep for a couple of centuries. We will recapture it then."

Machiavelli nodded. "We did not discuss your fee."

The three women smiled, and Josh had to look away. He had seen scary movies and people before, but these three were even more frightening than those. He shivered once before looking at them again, relieved that their smiles faded. The one with indigo eyes spoke again. "There is no fee. This we will do to restore the honor of our clan and avenge our fallen family. Scathach the Shadow destroyed many of our sisters."

Machiavelli nodded again. "I understand. When will you attack?"

"At dawn."

"Why not now?" Dee demanded hastily.

The one with forest pool eyes spoke again. "We are creatures of the twilight. In that no-time between night and day, we are at our strongest."

"That is when we are invincible." The indigo eyed one said.

Dee grinned, standing up and nodding to her. "Thank your for your services. I'm sure you'll have no trouble catching the Shadow and the others with the Nidhogg in your possession."

Machiavelli and Dee led them out, talking to them but only getting one answer responses. Josh stared after them, blue eyes wide with what he just saw. He knew that Valkyries were warriors from Norse mythology, but he had never imagined he'd ever meet one. Actually, there were a lot of things he would never have guessed to meet, but since the day Dee walked into the bookshop, it seemed creatures and myths from everywhere were gathering to either help them or destroy them.

"You seem a bit young to be a warrior."

Josh jumped at the voice, turning around sharply to see the Disir with pale blue eyes staring at him, her chin tilted at an almost awkward angle. "Why are you here?" she asked in a demanding tone.

"I'm Josh," he blurted out. "I'm with Dee. He got me away from Flamel. I have a gold aura."

She stared at him for a long time before nodding. "You do," she said stoically. "And I assume the humani girl is your twin sister?"

"Yes."

"And does she have a silver aura?"

"Yes."

She walked towards him, towering over him by several inches. He shivered, feeling the essence of her power wash over him. "You left your sister behind with dangerous immortals. Why?" she asked, her voice dangerously low.

He glanced back to the door, hoping Dee or Machiavelli would walk back in. "I didn't leave her behind, she left me," he answered back in almost a bitter tone. "She didn't even come back for me. She forgot all about me."

The Disir blinked once. "Family should not abandon one another," she stared deeply into his eyes. "I have lost much of my family over the course of my life. I have learned that family is all we have left in the end."

Josh nodded. "I…I guess," he took a deep breath, trying to change the subject. "What's your name?"

She raised a pale eyebrow. "My name is Disir."

"Surely you all have names? You can't all be named Disir. That would be kind of weird."

A strange sort of smile crossed her features. "It has been a long time since anyone has asked for my name," she looked almost prideful for a moment. "My sisters call me Freyja."

He nodded. "I'm Josh. Josh Newman."

She nodded back to him. "Well Josh Newman, do you know how to fight? It has been a long time since I've had a sparring match with anyone but my sisters."

He shook his head. "No."

She blinked. "Well, until you're awakened, you need to defend yourself. Come, I will teach your some of my skills. It has been too long since I've beaten a human at combat."

She motioned for her to follow him, not looking back as she walked away. Josh only stared after her, disorientation swimming around in his mind before he shook his thoughts away and followed after her in curiosity.

**Word Count: 3,762**

_The Disir didn't have names in the book, so I decided to give one of them a name. Freyja is an older form of Freya, which means lady. The Disir probably have older and much cooler names, but I thought it sounded nice, so I stuck with it. Besides, their queen that Scatty killed was named Brynhildr. Anyways, please review! Reviews are like sunshine on a cloudy day! Like warm chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie! They're just awesome!_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note: **__Thanks for the reviews! No spoiling anything in this chapter, (though I doubt there is anything to spoil.) Well, enjoy the chapter!_

_**Warnings: **__None_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own SOTINF and never will. The series belong to the wonderful and awesome Michael Scott._

* * *

_**(Sunday, June 3, Paris, France)**_

"I think I'm still on American time."

"_Hva?_" Freyja asked. Currently, they were down in Machiavelli's gym in the west room of the second floor. One wall was mirrored, and it reflected him and the Valkyrie, surrounded by the latest exercise equipment that was no doubt expensive.

Josh glanced at his watch. "It's thee a.m.…I should be exhausted, but I'm still totally awake. It could be because it's only six at night back home."

Freyja only nodded, looking at the broadsword in her hand. "That is one reason. Another is because you are around humani immortals like Dee and Machiavelli. Although your powers have not been awakened, you are in the company of two of the most powerful immortals on the planet. Your own aura is picking up a little of their power, and it is energizing you."

"But just because you don't feel tired doesn't mean you should not rest."

Josh looked up to see the Disir with indigo eyes hanging upside down from the rectangular ceiling light, pale arms crossed over her chest. He blinked, almost dropping the sword in his own hands. "How are you not breaking that?" he asked bluntly.

The indigo eyed Disir ignored him. "Drink lots of water. Your aura is burning through many liquids. You must keep hydrated."

Freyja looked up at her sister, nodding in agreement. "And humani need to keep hydrated in any case. I doubt the doctor would want to deal with a sick humani."

The sound of the gym door opened and the Disir with forest pool eyes stepped in, the sound of her boots not making a sound. "How is the humani coming along?" she asked, her eyes boring into Josh's. "The Doctor and Machiavelli are wanting to know how he's doing."

"I'm still learning how to hold the sword," Josh muttered in embarrassment. He had seen movies; he'd thought he knew how people fought with swords. He'd never imagined, though, that just holding one would be so difficult. Freyja had spent the past thirty minutes attempting to teach him how to hold and move the sword without dropping it. She hadn't had much success; every time he spun the weapon, the weight dragged it from his grip. "It's harder than I thought," he admitted. "I'm not sure I'll ever learn."

"Sister Freyja can teach you how to fight with a sword," Indigo eyes said. "As my older sister, she taught me when I was young shield maiden and turned me into a Chooser of the Dead."

Josh blinked twice. "Which one of you is the oldest?"

"That doesn't matter right now," Freyja snapped. "Forget everything you think you know about sword play," she let out a long sigh. "He's watched too much TV."

"He thinks he can just gyrate a sword like a cheerleader's baton," the one with forest pool eyes said, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Ridiculous."

Freyja smirked, flipping her sword and presented it to Josh. "Take it."

Josh reached for it with his right hand.

Freyja rolled her eyes. "Take it with both hands. The sword is too heavy for one hand."

Josh hesitated, staring at his right hand before adding his left hand up. He took the sword by its hilt, grinning as Freyja nodded in approval. "Let's start with how to hold a sword," she took a position on Josh's right, while her sister with forest pool eyes went to his left. "Look straight ahead."

Josh looked into the mirror, taking a deep breath to try and concentrate. Freyja grasped his forearms lightly and he shivered from the touch, not expecting her to be so cold. She ignored this, talking sternly into his ear. "Just do it like I showed you. And slowly." She made his arms raise the longsword, spinning it around so that the point of the blade was positioned between his feet and his hands rest on the pommel of the hilt.

Josh wrapped his fingers around the hilt, the two Disir stepping back to watch him. Their eyes were like hawks and he tried to focus on the sword and not stare at them back. He raised his right arm, grimacing as the weight of the sword made his arm tremble before it even had time to fully extend. "It's too heavy," he gasped, lowering his arm to rotate his shoulder. It almost felt as if he were at football practice, only this was ten times harder.

"Try it like this. Watch me." Forest pool eyes said, showing him how to grip the handle with both hands.

He found it easier to hold the sword straight out and he tried it again, only holding it with one hand this time. For about thirty seconds the weapon remained still; then the tip started trembling. Sighing, he lowered his arms. "Can't do it with one hand," he murmured to no one in particular.

"In time," The indigo Disir snapped. "I can't remember a time when humani were this whinny."

"In the meantime," Freyja continued firmly. "I will teach you how to wield it."

"He'll need practice," Forest pool eyes said. "At least three years by the looks of it. Humani during the time we ruled the world took less time."

"Three years?" Josh gulped.

"Unfortunately, we do not have that much time."

Josh jumped at the new voice that entered the room, swirling around; he looked in surprise as Dee sauntered into the gym, an almost pleasant smile on his face. Freyja and her sister did not return the smile. They simply stood there, both of them next to each other to the point where their arms were nearly touching. The sound of a ceiling light hitting something scared him again, and he watched as the Disir with indigo eyes leaped from the ceiling and landed next to her sisters, arms crossed over her chest.

"Is there something you wanted, Doctor?" They asked at the same time.

Dee grinned, drawing Excalibur out from its sheath. "You said you wanted a fight. Since the boy is still on the very basics," he smiled at Josh. "I thought that I would take you on. I've never fought a Disir before and perhaps I should test your legendary skills."

Freyja blinked at him, her sisters stepping gracefully to the side along with Josh as she took her broadsword forward. "I'd say you're either a fool or extremely ambitious," she said, her lips not moving. "I think I will go with the later."

Dee raised his sword to move against her, but she was too fast for him. The sound of their blades screamed against each other, sparks shooting out from both ends. Dee quickly retaliated, attacking her blade again only with much more force. It was almost as if a dance were going on, only the Disir was obviously the leader of the dance. Dee was good, but she was even better, more skilled.

"Wow," was all Josh could say. "Just…wow."

The Disir to his right only grunted. "Brynhildr would be pleased."

"Yes," the Disir to his left agreed, indigo eyes gleaming. "Very pleased."

Josh could only shiver at the tone of their voices, backing away from them a little. Relief filled his body as Machiavelli appeared into the room, an almost pleased smile on his face. "It is twilight."

* * *

Much to his discomfort, Josh found himself sandwiched between Machiavelli and Dee. Not that he was squished or anything, but he was close to both of them that he could practically feel their bodies against his. Facing the three of them, the Disir were looking unblinkingly into each of their faces, neither of them smiling.

The sound of Machiavelli's cell phone buzzing was the only thing that disrupted the awkward silence. The Italian brought the device to his ear, only seconds before closing it shut. "All clear. My men have pulled back and there is a security cordon is place around all the connecting streets. No one will accidentally wander into the area."

The Disir with indigo eyes nodded. "Whatever happens, do not enter the house. Once we free Nidhogg, we shall have very little control until it feeds."

Dee leaned forward, looking as if he were going to tap the young woman on the knee. The look on her face prevented him. "Flamel and the humani girl must not be allowed to escape."

"That sounds like a threat, Doctor," the Disir on the left said, forest pool eyes shifting towards him. "Or an order."

"And we do not like threats," Freyja added. "And we don't take orders."

Dee blinked slowly. "It is neither a threat nor an order. Simply a…request."

"We are here only for Scathach," the indigo eyed one said. "The rest of them are not our concern."

Dagon stopped the car, stepping out to open the door to let the Valkyries out. The walked out without even backwards glance, each of them looking like young women coming home from an all-night party. Dee shifted position, taking the seat facing Machiavelli and Josh, allowing for Josh to scoot over to have some elbow room. "If they succeed, I will ensure that our masters know that the Disir were your idea," the Magician said pleasantly.

Machiavelli didn't look at him. "I'm sure you will," he looked out the window to see the progress of the three girls. "And if they fail, you can tell our masters that the Disir were my idea, and you can absolve yourself any blame. Shifting the blame: I believe I originally came up with that concept about twenty years before you were born."

Josh only looked at them in confusion. It was like watching children argue, only, these were two _grown_ immortal men arguing. "I thought the Disir were bringing the Nidhogg." He offered quietly, not quite knowing what the Nidhogg was. He kept imagining it was a giant pig, but knew better than to offer that idea.

Machiavelli didn't look at him either; he only tapped the window with manicured nails. "They did."

The Disir moved down the narrow, cobbled, high-walled alley, they changed. The transformation happened as they passed through a patch of shadow. They entered as young women, dressed in soft leather jackets, jeans and boots…and a moment later they were Valkyries: warrior maidens. Long coats of ice white chain mail fell to their knees, knee-high metal boots with spiked toes covered their feet, and they wore heavy leather and metal gauntlets on their hands. Rounded helmets protected their heads and masked their eyes and noses but left their mouths free. White leather belts around their waists held their sword and knife sheaths. The Valkyries each carried a wide-bladed sword in one hand, but each also had a second weapon strapped to her back: a spear, a double headed axe, and a war hammer.

They paused before a rotting green gate set into the wall. Freyja turned to look back at the car, pointing a gloved hand towards the gate.

Machiavelli hit a button and the window rolled down. He raised his thumb and nodded. Each Disir reached into a leather pouch that hung from her belt. Taking out a handful of flat stone like objects, they tossed them at the base of the door.

"They're casting the runes," Machiavelli explained to him, looking at him now. "They're calling Nidhogg," he turned to Dee. "The creature you released, a creature the Elders themselves locked away."

Dee made a face. "I didn't know it was trapped by the World Tree," he muttered.

"I'm surprised. I thought you knew everything," Machiavelli shifted in the seat to look at Dee. In the half light, a faint thin line of sweat was on the Doctor's forehead. "Why did you destroy the Yggdrasill?"

"It was the source of Hekate's power," Dee said quietly.

"It was as old as this planet. And yet you destroyed it without a second thought. Why did you do that?"

"I did what was necessary," Dee's words were like ice. "I will always do whatever is necessary to bring the Elders back to this world."

"But you didn't consider the consequences," Machiavelli said quietly. "Every action has a consequence. The Yggdrasill you destroyed in Hekate's kingdom stretched into several other Shadowrealms. The topmost branches reached the Shadowrealm of Asgard, and the roots stretched deep into Niflheim, the World of Darkness. Not only did you release Nidhogg, but you also destroyed at least three Shadowrealms, maybe more, when you destroyed the World Tree."

Josh's throat went dry. Dee had destroyed more than one shadow realm? He'd seen how damaged Hekate's world had been, and how the creatures in it had suffered. Did that mean that there were other creatures that had suffered? He knew that every action had an equal and opposite reaction, but this sounded catastrophic. Did suffering follow Dee just as death followed the Flamels?"

"I didn't know." Dee said quietly.

"You made a lot of enemies," Machiavelli carried on smoothly. "Dangerous enemies. I have heard that the Elder Hel escaped the destruction of her kingdom. I understand she is hunting you."

"She does not frighten me," Dee snapped.

"Oh, she should. She terrifies me."

"My master will protect me," Dee said, confidence ringing in his tone.

"He must be a powerful Elder indeed to protect you from Hel; no one has stood against her and survived."

Dee glared at the Italian. "My master is all powerful!"

Machiavelli only shrugged, pulling out his phone to look at something. "I look forward to learning the identity of this mysterious Elder."

"When this is all over, maybe I'll introduce you," Dee blinked, and nodded towards the direction of the alleyway. "And that could be very soon."

Josh shivered and squeezed his eyes shut as the ground vibrated and the sound of no known animal rang out.

* * *

_**(Inside of Joan's house)**_

Snake.

Nicholas leapt to his feet, pale eyes growing wide as the scent of snake drifted into the kitchen. He'd been sitting at the kitchen table, thinking of Perenelle, when he felt the ground vibrate. There was a sudden scrabbling sound, like a squirrel running up a tree. Then, directly in front of him, on the side of the small courtyard, claws, each one the length of his hand, appeared over the top of the nine-foot high wall.

They moved around slowly, questing for a hold, and then abruptly gripped hard enough for the talons to bite deep into the old bricks. Nicholas gasped, his mind running wild as he searched his memories for a name for the creature.

The arms that followed were covered in thick knobbled hide, and then the head of a monster appeared over the wall. Long and slab like, with two rounded nostrils on the end of a blunt snout directly over its mouth and sold black eyes sunk deep behind circular depressions on either side of its skull.

Nicholas grabbed the stone sword off the table, not wanting to use Clarent, but knowing it was his best chance. "WAKE UP!" he shouted. "JOAN! GERMAIN! SOPHIE! ANYONE!"

Glass shattered and the tongue shot into the kitchen, sweeping plates to the floor, scattering pots and pans, knocking over a chair. Nicholas swung the sword at the tongue, the monster letting out a cry of pain. There was a split second of silence before the creature rammed its head at the door.

Nicholas almost jumped as a hand touched his shoulder. "Now look what you've done; you just went and made it mad."

He smiled briefly. "Scatty."

Scathach strode into the wrecked kitchen and stood in the sweeping hole created by the creature's blows. "Nidhogg," she said. "Which means the Disir are not far behind." Her smile was terrifying, her green eyes looking pleased.

She jumped backwards as Nidhogg's head appeared and slammed into the opening again. A glob of spittle burned on the tile, turning it to liquid sludge. The warrior's twin blades shot out, and created two long cuts on the white flesh of the creature's tongue.

Without taking her eyes off the creature, Scathach spoke to him calmly. "Get the others out of the house, I'll take care of this…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, a black claw shot out and wrapped the Warrior's body in a vicelike grip. It slammed her body against the wall, her head just inches away from the corner of a cabinet. The creature roared and slammed her again twice, the warrior slumping forward, her eyes shut.

The monster drew out of the hole, holding Scathach in a crushing grip. Nicholas growled, anger building up in him. How dare this creature come in and destroy his friends' home! He had put them in danger before and now they were in it again! Well, he would not let this happen. If Perenelle were here, she would know what to do. But she wasn't, and Nicholas knew he had to do something.

He raced after the creature, ducking as the tale swept over his head. His aura flared up, and the sword hummed in his hands. He slashed after the tale, narrowly missing as the creature turned around, roaring and batting the immortal away with its free claw. Nicholas let out a cry, the sword falling from his hands and the blow sending him crashing into the wall near the hole, his head hitting the trashcan on his way down.

He reached out towards Scathach as his eyes closed, despair filling his entire body.

* * *

The street echoed with the sounds of breaking glass, snapping wood and tumbling stone. Every car and house alarm in the district was blaring, and there were lights on in all the other houses lining the alleyway, though no one had ventured out yet.

"Is Scathach dead?" Machiavelli wondered out loud.

Josh pressed his face towards the window, watching with wide eyes as the creature carried Scatty in its mouth. He had seen Flamel get thrown into a wall, but that wasn't important at the moment. What was, was the giant monster roaming around in the city.

"No," Dee commented, a wide grin forming on his face. "At least, not yet."

Machiavelli frowned before his eyes widened. "EVERYONE! OUT!"

They didn't even have time to blink as the Nidhogg ran their way. The sound of glass echoed in Josh's ear as Dagon leapt through the windshield after failing to find his feet. He cried out as arms wrapped around him and his body went flying from the car door just as Nidhogg trampled over the long black German car. One paw landed directly in the center of the roof, crushing it into the pavement. Windows popped, spraying glass like shrapnel as the car buckled in the middle, the front and rear wheels lifting off the ground.

Josh opened his closed eyes, his nose wrinkling as the smell of sulfur drifted into his nose. A yellow aura had appeared around him and Dee, and he realized Dee had been the one who got him out of the car. The English man gave him a smile. "We couldn't have you dying on us, could we?"

Josh gave a tentative smile. "I guess not."

"Dagon?" Machiavelli whispered, rolling over. "Dagon, where are you?"

"I'm here!" Dagon called out, coming smoothly to his feet. He pulled off his cracked sunglasses and dropped them on the ground. Rainbow colors ran across round unblinking eyes. "It was holding Scathach," he commented, loosening his black tie and popping open the top button of his white shirt.

"Is she dead?" Machiavelli asked.

"I'll not believe Scathach is dead until I see it for myself."

Josh glanced over the area, his eyes detecting something lying on the ground. Glancing at the immortals, who were now in an argument about the Nidhogg, he stepped over to the object, shoes crunching over glass shards. He blinked in surprise, seeing as it was sword. Almost like the one Dee had. Who would drop a perfectly good sword? Oh right, he remembered, Nicholas Flamel.

The sword was different from Excalibur, though. The hilt had tiny crystals in it, and the blade was made of stone. The sword hummed in his hands and for a moment, he swore it was speaking to him. He heard voices of the ones who had perhaps held it before, and it exhilarated him. He wanted to fight, to be the champion in a battle, he wanted to go to war.

But most of all, he wanted to go kill the Nidhogg. And then question Scathach on why she had abandoned him; why she had chosen Sophie over him.

As if the sword were leading him, he followed after the creature, running right past the surprised faces of Dee, Machiavelli, and Dagon.

* * *

"What on earth is he doing?"

Machiavelli glared into the distance, trying to see where the boy was going. One minute, he'd been arguing with the English Immortal, and the next, the American boy had run past him holding what looked to be Excalibur.

"I don't know," Machiavelli said after few seconds. "Did you see what he was holding? It looked like a sword; a stone sword. Surely not Excalibur?"

Dee gave him a look. "Not Excalibur," he said shortly.

"It was definitely a gray stone blade."

"It wasn't Excalibur."

Machiavelli huffed, placing his hands on his hips and glaring at the Magician. "How do you know?" he demanded crossly.

Dee reached under his coat and pulled out a short stone sword, an almost exact match of the one Josh was carrying. "Because I have Excalibur," Dee answered smugly. "The boy was holding its twin, Clarent. We always suspected Flamel had it."

Machiavelli closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Clarent. No wonder the Nidhogg fled. Could this night get any worse?"

Before Dee could answer, his cell phone buzzed. The Magician almost snapped the device in two as he opened it. "What?" he snarled, annoyance crossing his features. His eyes widened and he closed his phone, his voice barely above a whisper. "Perenelle has escaped. She's free on Alcatraz."

Machiavelli ran a hand across his face, stress rising in his body. Nicholas Flamel was bad, but Perenelle was even worse. "I spoke too soon."

* * *

_**Word Count: 3, 748**_

_Gosh, Dee and Machiavelli can't even look after a fifteen year old boy and a monster correctly. Tsk, tsk, their masters will not be pleased. Hurrah, we're almost through the Magician! *Happy dance* And then maybe I can add Billy finally! Well, please review! _


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's note:**__ Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updating, I've just been busy with some classes and all. I finally got through Driver's Ed, so now I have time to update. Along with being busy, I haven't been feeling well recently. It's nothing serious! I just get sick a couple days after school gets out from all the stress. But I'm sort of better now!_

_**Warnings: **__None_

_**Disclaimer: **__The sandbox belongs to Michael Scott. I just jump the fence to play in it._

* * *

_**(Sunday, June 3, Paris, France)**_

Freyja stood at top the Nidhogg's head, arms spread out and weapon poised. Scathach lay in the monster's claws; head slumped over her shoulder and her eyes unmoving. She let a small smirk of victory cross her pale features. She had waited for over a millennia to destroy the shadow, though she would have preferred that both her sisters were here with her to do it. The three of them had been the last few Valkyries to make it out of their fortress when the Shadow had killed their Queen. They had stood atop a hill nearby, screaming and crying in sorry and anger. Their kingdom had been lost forever.

The sword tightened in her hand and she slid down the creature's back, slashing out at Scathach. She hadn't even landed a blow on her when the sound of a boy screaming caught her attention. She swirled her head around a full 90 degrees, somewhat surprised to see Josh standing only a few feet away, a sword in his own hand.

She narrowed her eyes, glancing down at her pet monster. It wouldn't be getting away anytime soon, seeing as it was stuck in the narrow alleyway. She stepped towards the boy, glaring at him intently. "Humani," she snarled. "What do you think you're doing?"

Josh swallowed hard, gripping the sword in his hands. "I…I can't let you kill her."

The temperature around them dropped intensely. "And why not?" she asked, the timbre of her voice like ice. "She is no friend of yours."

She showed off a smile full of sharp teeth as he faltered, but the smile fell short when he shook his head, raising his sword. "I need answers from her," he said in a braver tone. "I need to know why she and the others abandoned me."

"Didn't the Doctor explain this to you? You're not one of them; you don't have awakened abilities. And they really only need one twin."

Josh blinked. "What?"

Her gaze snapped to his, feeling unusually surprised. Did he really not know? "Does anyone ever tell you anything?" she asked, the two of them now circling each other. "You don't know the prophecy?"

"I know there's a prophecy!" Josh snapped.

"But do you know all of it?"

He stopped, biting at his lower lip. "I know that Sophie and I are meant to save the world or destroy it. The two that are one, the one that is all."

Freyja let out a laugh, though to the boy, it probably sounded like a wolf's howl. "Who told you that? The Alchemyst?" she grinned as he flinched. "If no one's told you the whole prophecy, than I shall tell you myself."

"But-"

She cut him off. "The two that are one, the one that is all. There will come a time when the book is stolen. And the Queen's man is allied with the Crow. The Elder will step out of the shadows and the immortal must train mortal. And the two that are one must become the one that is all. One to save the world; the other to destroy it."

Josh stared at her, his jaw opening and closing as he tried to say something. She sidestepped to the left, smashing the hilt of her blade into the small of his back. He cried out, stumbling to the ground. She released him, stepping back to observe him coldly. "You don't really think you can defeat me, do you? I've had eons of practice. And you've only had three hours."

Josh looked at his sword hesitantly. The blade suddenly felt heavy in his hands, as if the knowledge of her words were sinking in. She was right; he'd only had three hours of practice whereas she had practically millennia of time to practice. The odds were definitely stacked against him. "I can try," he admitted, but then felt rather silly for saying that. "Well, maybe."

She let out a war cry in a language that didn't even sound like English. Her sword flashed over his head, and he barely had time let out a cry of fear. Josh saw the flicker of movement and reacted quickly, bring the weapon up and around horizontally over his head. The two blades struck in an explosion of sparks. The force almost sent him to his knees as sparks rained down over his face. The pain made him angry, but there was little he could do while Freyja's sword was raised above him.

She danced backwards, bringing her weapon in a wide sweeping cut. It made a whining noise as it sliced through the air toward him and Josh felt nausea setting in as he sensed what was about to happen. He was not going to be able to avoid it.

And then, he felt the sword twitch in his hand.

His eyes widened and he glanced down at the sword. Swords weren't supposed to move, were they? A surge of heat flew into his hand, his fingers tightening around the hilt. The sword jerked, jutting out to meet the other sword's metal blade. The stone sword turned the sword aside at the last moment in another explosion of sparks.

Freyja's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. She darted away, staring at him accusingly. "No humani possesses such skill," she hissed in anger, her eyes widening even further as she looked at the blade. "Impossible…where did you find that sword?"

Josh looked down at the stone sword. "I found it on the road near where the Nidhogg tossed Flamel," he said simply. "It's just a sword?"

His stupidity made her want to ram her sword through his head. "Imbecile!" she spat. "Do you know what you're holding? That's one of the legendary swords, Clarent. The Coward's blade."

Josh held the sword up, examining it. "Legendary sword? Cool."

She grinded her teeth together. "That is the sword Mordred used to kill his father, Arthur. The blade is dangerous in the hands of a master. It could even be used to kill Scathach," she looked thoughtful, but quickly shook her head. "I would not use it."

Josh blinked. "So, if this sword could kill Scathach, it could kill you too?"

"Don't be a fool!" she laughed, the sound sounding like a bunch of wolves. "You can't even touch me in your condition!"

She darted forward, giving Josh only a few seconds to side step her. He was smashed into the brick wall, groaning in pain at the bruises that were now developing. The Nidhogg's tail swooped out, knocking him off his feet and onto his face. The sword clanked out of his hand, sitting only a few inches away from him. Freyja dashed forward, swinging the sword above her head before landing it down to stab him. Josh log rolled away, grabbing the sword again. He stood up, barely even having time to register the fact that Nidhogg's tail was swooping towards him again. Closing his eyes, he lashed out at it.

The monster let out a cry of pain.

For an instant, images ran through his mind. He could see the Nidhogg running in a bizarre landscape, being held over a cliff, and even one image of it devouring an entire city of humans! The memories buzzed through his body like a caffeine rush, as if they gave him more energy. And Josh found that he liked it. He liked it a lot. The sound of the monster crying again drew him away from his thoughts, and he looked in surprise at the tail.

Tiny spots of black crust were beginning to cover's it wound, and it lashed out again. The sword flew even farther away from Josh and he had no way of reaching it this time. The monster screamed again in agony, the sound bringing tears to Josh's eyes. Freyja looked beyond angry. "Humani," she spat. "I'm going to kill you. Regardless of whether the Doctor wants you alive."

She had Josh now pressed up against the monster's tail. Hefting the broadsword, she raised it above her head. Josh squeezed his eyes shut, the sound of her war cry ringing in his ears.

"ODIN!"

"Sophie…"

He waited for the blow to come, but it never did. Sparking, crackling, snapping, a sheet of stinking yellow-white flame winked into existence between him and the Disir. The heat was so intense; he crawled even further against the Nidhogg, trying to ignore the pain of his crisp hair that scorched his eyebrows and eyelashes.

"Josh!"

He heard someone call his name, but he couldn't see anything through the flames. The closeness of the fire roused the Nidhogg, and it moved. The force of the movement shifted Josh on his hands and knees, sending him dangerously close to the flames, but they suddenly died abruptly!

He hit the ground hard, his hands and knees now stinging from the contact. The smell of rotten eggs was so appalling, that his eyes and nose were now streaming. He could see Clarent, though, and he tried to reach it, but someone shouted his name again.

"Josh!"

Freyja screamed, throwing herself at him again. A solid spear of yellow flame struck the woman, exploding over her chainmail, which immediately started to rust and fall away. Another wall of flame roared into existence between her and Josh.

"Josh."

Josh jumped, the feeling of a hand on his shoulder surprising him as well as bringing out a burst of pain. He looked up, relief flooding over him as Dr. Dee leaned over him. Dirty yellow smoke fell from his torn gray gloves and his suit was now a mess. Never the less, he smiled kindly. "It would be best if we left right now," he gestured towards the flames. "I can't keep this up forever."

As he spoke, Freyja's sword cut through the yellow smoke, flames curling around the metal blade. Dee hauled Josh to his feet and started to drag him backwards. "Wait," Josh said hoarsely, his voice raw with fear and smoke. "Scatty…Scatty is trapped!" He said between coughs.

"Escaped," Dee said quickly, putting an arm around his shoulder, leading him toward a police car.

"Escaped?"

"Nidhogg lost its grip on her when I created the curtain of fire between you and the Disir. I saw her roll away from its claws, jump to her feet and race down the quay."

"She ran away?" that didn't sound right to him. She'd been unconscious the last time he'd seen her. But then again, how could anyone stay asleep through all the noise that had been going around?

"Even the legendary Warrior could not stand against Nidhogg. Heroes survive to fight because they know when to run."

"She left me? She didn't even try to help me?"

"I doubt she even knew you were there," the doctor said quickly, bundling Josh into the back of a badly parked police car and slid in beside him. He tapped the white haired driver. "Let's go."

Almost scaring the Doctor, Josh suddenly sat up straight. "Wait! I dropped Clarent!"

"Trust me," Dee assured. "You don't want to return for it."

From the window, Josh could see Freyja, her once pristine white chain mail now hanging in a tattered and rotting sheds about her. She strode through the dying flames and instantly let out a scream, racing towards the car shouting curses in a language that sounded like wolves howling.

"Niccolò," Dee began quickly. "She's rather upset. We really should be going now, right now!"

Machiavelli turned the key in the ignition so savagely that the starter screeched. The car lurched, jerked forward, then died. Dee sighed, leaning his head against the window. "Oh great," he muttered. "That's just great."

The doctor brought his hand to his mouth and blew sharply into it. A yellow sphere of smoke rolled from his palm and dropped onto the ground. It bounced twice like a rubber ball, then exploded at head height just as it reached Freyja. Thick, sticky strands the color and consistency of dirty honey splashed over her, then dripped down into long streamers, gluing her to the ground. "That should hold her," Dee began. Freyja glared daggers at him as her sword easily sliced through the strands. "Or maybe not."

Josh gritted his teeth, realizing Machiavelli had failed to start the car again. "Let me," he muttered, scrambling over the back seat as the Italian slid over to the passenger side. His right shoulder was screaming at him, but he was glad that at least feeling had returned to his fingers, and he didn't think anything was broken. He knew he was going to have a massive bruise to add to his growing collection. Turning the key in the ignition, he floored the accelerator and simultaneously slammed the car into reverse just as Freyja reached it.

The warrior's flailing sword stuck the door, puncturing the metal, the tip of the blade inches from Josh's leg. As the car screeched backward, the Disir set her feet firmly and held onto her sword with both hands. The blade tore a horizontal rip right across the door and into the wing over the engine, peeling back the metal as if it were paper. It also tore the front driver's side tire, which exploded with a dull bang.

"Keep going!" Dee called out.

"I'm not stopping!" Josh responded. With the engine whining in protest and the front tire flapping and banging off the ground, Josh tore away from the quayside.

They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Dee leaned across the backseat of the police car. "Turn here," he commanded. "Please." He added after seeing the look Josh gave him.

Josh hit the brakes and the car slide and screeched, the front tire now completely torn away and the wheel running on the metal rim, kicking up sparks. "Now here," Dee pointed to a narrow alleyway lined on both sides with rows of plastic trash cans.

"Is she following?" Machiavelli spoke for the first time, voice sounding strained.

"I can't see her," Dee said crisply. "But I think we need to get off the streets."

"We won't get much farther in this," Josh began, trying to maintain control of the wheel. Before he could blink, the car wobbled and smoke began billowing over the hood. "Out," Josh commanded. "I think we're on fire!"

The three of them hopped out of the car, running out of the alley. They had taken only a half dozen steps when there was a dull thump and the car burst into flames.

"Wonderful," Dee said again bitterly. "So now the Disir definitely knows where we are. And she's not going to be happy."

"Well, not with you, that's for sure." Machiavelli muttered.

"Me?"

"I'm not the one who set fire to her."

Josh let out a loud sigh, picturing the two immortals in front of him as small, bickering children. "Enough already!" he rounded on the two of them. "What do we do now? What if Freyja comes back? Maybe I should go find my sister…." He trailed off.

"What did it feel like?"

Josh turned to the Magician in surprise, knowing instantly what the man was talking about. Dee looked at him kindly. "What was it like holding Clarent, feeling that raw power running through you? What was it like knowing the thoughts and emotions of the creature you'd just stabbed?" Dee reached in his suit and pulled out Excalibur. "It is an awe inspiring feeling, isn't it?"

Josh nodded. He could remember seeing what the Nidhogg had seen, had done. The Magician took a step forward. "For an instant, Josh, the merest instant, it was like being Awakened, though nowhere near as intense. And do you want to have your powers Awakened?"

Josh nodded again. The Magician was right; he wanted to be Awakened more than anything else right now. Holding Clarent, he'd felt truly alive. "But it can't be done," he said sadly.

Dee laughed. "Oh yes, it can. It can be done here, today."

"It can?" Josh looked surprised. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"If you're comparing me to Flamel, then I want you to know this. _I _always know the truth. I doubt Flamel even knows what is the truth," he jerked his thumb to Machiavelli. "The Italian is no friend of mine. So ask him the question. Ask him if your powers could be Awakened this very morning."

Josh turned to Machiavelli, noting that the white haired man looked vaguely troubled, but he nodded. "The English Magician is correct: your powers could be Awakened today. I imagine we could probably find someone to do it within the hour."

Dee smiled triumphantly, turning back to Josh. "It's your choice. So, give me your answer. Do you want to go back to your sister and Flamel, with his vague promises, or do you want to have your powers Awakened?"

Even as he stared at the black threads that flowed off Excalibur's stone blade, Josh knew the answer. He remembered the feelings, the emotions, the power that had coursed through his body when he'd held Clarent. And Dee had said those feelings were nowhere near as intense as being Awakened.

"I need an answer," Dee said smoothly.

Taking a breath, Josh turned to him. "What do I have to do?"

* * *

**Word Count: 3,133**

_Gosh dang it Josh, can't you use common sense for once? GO BACK TO YOUR SISTER! Hehe sorry, but Josh is an idiot at times. That's why Sophie is the smart one. Although, there are times I don't really like Sophie very much. Anyways, please review! And I can say with certainty that when we get to The Sorceress, it will be different from the book! Most of it! _


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's note: **Hey guys! Just as I thought I was feeling better, I threw up. Lovely, I know. I felt all yucky since I last updated, but I feel soooo much better now. Yays Josh gets Awakened in this chapter! Woooh Dee is still in Asshat XD_

_**Warnings: **None_

_**Disclaimer: **The series belongs to Michael Scott. I do not own it. Now, they need to make this series a movie or a TV show. Hell, why not a musical?_

_**(Joan's house, Paris France, June 3)**_

"This is going to take days to repair. And how am I going to get rid of these two?"

Joan stood in front of the two frozen Disir, hands placed on her hips and an angry scowl on her face. The once beautifully ornate hallway was a mess. The wallpaper was now hanging in curling strips, the banisters leading to the upstairs were now chopped through leaving the tiles scored and chipped. Even a light bulb was the only thing remaining in the antique chandelier.

The kitchen was even worse. The hallway could be fixed, but the kitchen was a nightmare. The whole side of the house was gone! There was nothing left but the crumbling ends of the wall and broken furniture and glass.

Sophie stared into the mess, her expression in a daze. All this had happened within fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes! And how was she going to get the image of a giant dinosaur looking creature out of her mind? She let out a giant sigh, massaging her temples as she turned to look at the two Disir standing in a frozen ice cube in the center of the hallway. She shivered once, noticing their gazes following her as she walked to stand next to her aura sister.

"Joan," she began in a trembling voice. "I…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry!"

Joan wrapped her arms around her as she burst into tears. "_Chut, ne pleure pas Sophie. _It's not your fault. How could you have known the Nidhogg was to come into this house?" the French woman paused as footsteps sounded through the room. "_Vous avez manqué le plaisir_," she said as she greeted Francis.

Germain was silent for a moment, quietly assessing the situation. "I heard nothing," he apologized finally. Tell me."

"It was all over in minutes. Sophie and I heard a disturbance at the back of the house. We ran downstairs just as two women smashed their way through the hall door. They were Disir, they said they had come for Scathach. One of them attacked me, the other one turned her attention to Sophie. Francis, this girl is extraordinary! She combined the magics fire and air to defeat the Disir! Then she wrapped them in fog and froze them to a lump of ice."

Germain frowned deeply. "It is physically impossible to use more than one magic at a time…" he trailed off, looking at Sophie almost in disbelief. Sophie only felt unsure of herself. She had completed two magics, both that took years to master, in one day. And she'd defeated the Disir using magics combined that were supposedly physically impossible! The thought of how umlimited her potential was exhilarating and frightening at the same time!

"Josh was here!" she blurted out, tugging herself out of Joan's arms. "I need to get him!"

Germain took her by the arm before she could run out of the torn remains of the house. "Slow down Sophie," he commanded firmly. "We will get him, but first, we need to find where Nicholas went to."

Just as he spoke, the Alchemyst shuffled into the center of the room, both arms wrapped around his body as if he was freezing and looked around. Then he bent to scoop up Scathach's matching short swords from where they lay amongst the rubble. As he turned to look at the others, Sophie was startled to see that his eyes were bright with tears. "I am sorry," he said. "So terribly, terribly sorry. I have brought terror and destruction to your home. It is unforgivable!"

Germain only waved her hand. "We can rebuild," he said airily. "This will give us the excuse we needed to remodel."

Joan looked as if she wanted to whack him on the head with a broom, but she only turned to the Alchemyst. "Nicholas," she started in a serious tone. "What happened here?"

Nicholas dragged up to the only unbroken chair in the room and slumped into it. He rubbed his left shoulder, wincing slightly. "Those are Disir in the blocks of ice. Valkyries. Scathach's sworn enemies, though she's never told me why. I know they have pursued her down through the centuries and have always allied themselves with her enemies.

Germain looked surprised, looking up and around in the kitchen. "They did this?"

"No, but they obviously brought something with them that did."

"The Nidhogg," Sophie said abruptly, the Witch's memories of the creature swimming in her mind. "When Dee destroyed the World Tree, he released the Nidhogg. It destroyed other Shadow realms in the process," she shook her head. "And Josh was here. I know he was."

Nicholas nodded. "I saw him. Before I blacked out, I saw him pick up the sword Clarent. I don't know where he is now, though," he ran his hands through his graying hair. "How are we going to find him?"

Joan paused, looking from the Alcheymist's face to Sophie's. "We can't…but Sophie can."

"How?"

Joan moved her hand in a horizontal line in front of her. It left the faintest tracery of light in the air, and the room briefly smelled of lavender. "She's his twin; she'll be able to follow his aura."

Sophie let out a shaky breath, holding her face in her hands. She was completely numb. Scatty was gone, possibly dead. Josh had vanished from her in the blink of an eye, choosing to side with Dee rather than her. No, that couldn't be it. She refused to believe that. She knew her brother better than anyone else. Dee had kidnapped him, it was the only way that possibly made sense.

Nicholas took her by the shoulders. "Sophie," he said quietly. "I need you to be strong now."

"What's the point?" she muttered. "Scatty's gone. Josh's been kidnapped."

Nicholas opened his mouth to say something, but found that he could not. He cleared his throat, putting a smile on his face. "They're not gone. Scatty is one of the most dangerous women in the world. And Josh is in Paris. Think hard; your connection to him is deeper than blood. Josh was standing over there. Try to picture him."

Sophie nodded, closing her eyes, and then opened them. She could see nothing out of the ordinary, besides the destroyed kitchen and the burning car standing in front of her. "His aura is gold," Flamel reminded her. "Dee's is yellow, Machiavelli's is gray or dirty white."

"I can't see anything."

"Then let me help you," Nicholas put his hand on her shoulder and suddenly, the stink of the burning car was replaced with the fresh sharp smell of mint. Instantly, her aura flared around her body, crackling and spitting like a firework, the pure silver now tinged with the emerald green of Flamel's aura.

And then, she could see it! Directly in front of her, she could make out the merest hint of Josh's outline. It was ghostly and insubstantial, composed of little more than threads and sparkling dust motes of gold, and when he moved he trailed streaked lines of gossamer color in the air behind him. Now that she knew what she was looking for, she could detect the traces of the other auras as well.

"I see them," she said in awe. "I can see their outlines."

"Where did they go?" Nicholas asked.

"This way," she pointed out, following the colored streaks in the air as they led out of the back alley. Nicholas followed her, Joan following him.

Germain called out. "I'll stay here! The Police are on their way!" as he spoke, sirens wailed closer and closer. "Be safe! Or, at least, try to!"

* * *

_**(With Dee, Machiavelli, and Josh, Underground Catacombs of Paris)**_

"I really don't like small spaces."

Josh shivered, rubbing his bare arms. The sewers were freezing, and the icy sweat running down his T-shirt was not helping matters at all. His voice echoed distortedly through the narrow tunnel. "I really, really, don't."

Machiavelli gave him a sympathetic look. "Neither do I," he added tightly. "I spent a little time in prison, a long time ago. I will never forget that experience."

"Was it as bad as this?"

"Worse," Machiavelli was walking behind him and he leaned forward to add. "Try and stay calm. This is just a maintenance tunnel; we'll get into the proper sewers in a few moments."

Josh took a deep breath and then gagged. The smell was so foul, that he remembered he had to breathe in through his mouth. "And how is that going to help?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"The sewers of Paris are mirrors of the streets above," The Italian's breath was warm against his ear. "The bigger sewers are fifteen feet high."

Josh felt the claustrophobia ease a little as a splashing sound was heard in the distance. He lifted the front of his black T-shirt over his mouth to breathe in. Only to find that it stank. He quickly dropped the shirt, realizing he'd almost revealed the bag he wore around his neck containing the final two pages of the Codex. No matter what happened, he wasn't going to give the pages over to the English Immortal. Not until he was very, very, sure that his motives were honest.

"Where are we?" he wondered aloud, looking back to Machiavelli. Dee stood in the center of the sewer, a sold white ball now spinning above the palm of his outstretched hand.

"I have no idea," The taller Immortal admitted. "There are about twenty-one hundred kilometers of sewers- around thirteen hundred miles," he amended at the blank look on Josh's face. "But don't worry; we're not lost. Most have their own street signs."

"Street signs?"

"The sewers of Paris are one of the great wonders of this city."

"Come!" Dee's voice cracked out, echoing in the chamber.

They followed along in silence, following Dee tunnel through tunnel until they arrived in an even narrower tunnel. Josh felt his stomach clench and his heart start to thump. The tunnel turned and twisted downward in a series of slender stairs. The stones here were older, the steps irregularly shaped, the walls soft and crumbling as they brushed past. In some places it was so narrow that Josh had to turn sideways to slip through. He got stuck in a particularly confined corner and immediately started to feel breathless panic bubbling in his chest. Then Dee caught one arm and unceremoniously yanked him through, tearing a long strip off the back of his T-shirt. "Nearly there," the Magician murmured.

Josh bent over, hands on knees. "Hang on a second; let me catch my breath," he realized as long as he concentrated on the ball of light and didn't think about the walls and ceiling closing in on him, he was OK. "How do you know where we're going?" he panted. "Have you been here before?"

"I was here once before…a long time ago," Dee said with a grin. "Right now, I'm just following the light."

"Who are we here to see?" Josh asked hesitantly.

"Patience, humani, patience," Dee looked past Josh to where Machiavelli was standing. "I'm sure our Italian friend will agree. One of the great advantages of immortality is that one learns patience. There is a saying: 'good things come to those who wait.'"

Machiavelli rolled his eyes. "Not always good things," he muttered.

Josh looked at the door, watching as Dee broke it open and jerked it out of its frame. Soft stone crumbled and flaked away around it. "If I am correct-and I almost always am," the Magician added. "Then this will lead us into the catacombs of Paris." Dee leaned the door against the wall and then stepped through the opening.

Josh followed him, ducking so he wouldn't hit his head. "I've never heard of them."

"Few people outside of Paris have," Machiavelli commented. "And yet, along with the sewers, they are one of the marvels of this city. Over a hundred seventy miles of mysterious and labyrinthine tunnels. The catacombs were once limestone quarries. And now they are filled…with bones."

Josh felt his stomach twist around at the sight, the blood draining away from his face. He'd seen dinosaur and animal bones, but this was different. These were once living human beings, with thoughts and feelings, friends and loved ones. And now, they were all piled up together to create an entire room.

"I think I'd like to head back up to the surface now, if that's ok," he swallowed heavily, feeling Machiavelli squeeze his shoulder.

"No, Josh, no, it's not ok. It's too late for that. We've gone too deep and there's no turning back. You will leave these catacombs awakened or…"

"Or what?" Josh asked, when he realized, with a growing sense of horror, how the Italian was going to finish the sentence.

"Or you will not leave at all."

They rounded a curve and stared down a long arrow-straight tunnel. The walls were even more ornately decorated in bone but with strange square patterns that Josh almost recognized. They were similar to drawings he'd seen in his father's study and looked like Maya or Aztec glyphs; but what were Meso-American hieroglyphs doing in the Catacombs of Paris?"

Dee was waiting for them at the end of the tunnel. His gray eyes sparkled in the reflect light, which also lent his skin an unhealthy glow. "This is now a momentous day for you, boy, a momentous day. For not only will your powers be Awakened, but you will also meet one of the few Elders who is still remembered by humanity. It is a great honor," he clapped his hands together. Ducking his head, he raised his hand, bringing up the globe of light, and revealed two tall arched columns of bones that had been shaped to form a doorframe. Beyond the opening, there was utter blackness. Stepping back, he directed. "You first."

Josh hesitated and Machiavelli caught his arm and squeezed tightly. When he spoke, his voice was low and urgent. "Whatever happens, you must now show fear, and do not panic. Your life, your very sanity, depends on it. Do you understand?"

"No fear, no panic," Josh repeated. "No fear, no panic. Great."

"Go now," Machiavelli released his arm and pushed him forward towards the doorway. The chamber was empty, expect for a long rectangular raised stone plinth in the center of the room. Dee's globe of light bobbed over the platform, harshly illuminating every curved detail. Lying flat on the top of a pitted slab of limestone was a huge statue of a man in ancient looing metal and leather armor, gauntleted hands wrapped around the thick hilt of a broadsword that was at least six feet long. Rising up on his toes, Josh could see that the statue's head was covered in a helmet that completely concealed the face.

Josh stared at the statue almost jumping out of his skin when the statue sat up and swiveled its head to look at Josh. Within the helmet, two eyes blazed blood red.

"Hail, Mars, the Lord of War," Dee said loudly.

Numb with fright, Josh watched as the helmeted head slowly turned to look at Dee. The Magician's aura immediately snapped alight, sizzling yellow and vaporous around him. Within the god's helmet, red lights glowed. The head turned again with the sound of grinding stone, and blazing crimson eyes looked back at him. Two ghost-white Satyrs crept out of the shadows and crouched behind the stone pedestal, watching Josh intently. Even glancing at them sent waves of panic and fear coursing through his entire body, and he was sure he saw one of them lick thin lips with a tongue the color of an old bruise.

He remembered what Machiavelli told him about not showing fear, but that was easier said than done. Josh tried to draw in a deep breath and settle his thumping heart, but he was shaking so hard he could barely breathe. His legs were like jelly, and he felt that at any moment, he would crumple to the ground. Squeezing his mouth shut, he forced himself to draw in air through his nose, trying to remember some breathing exercises.

"Great Mars, it is almost time," Dee said quickly. "Time for the Elders to return to the world of the humani. We have the Codex."

At the mention of the Codex, the Elder's head snapped toward Dee, eyes blazing, wisps of red smoke drifting from the slit in the helm.

"The prophecy is almost fulfilled," Dee continued. "Soon we will make the Final Summoning. Soon we will free the Lost Elders and return them to their rightful place as rulers of the world. Soon we will return the world to the paradise it once was."

Dee smiled slightly as he had the statue's full attention. "And the first prophecy of the Codex has come to pass. We have found the two that are one. We have found the twins of legend," he waved a hand toward Josh. "This humani possesses an aura of pure gold; his twin sister's aura is unblemished silver."

"Twins."

It took Josh a few seconds to realize that Mars had spoken. The god's voice was surprisingly soft and weary. "Twins?"

"Y-yes," Josh stammered. "I have a twin sister, Sophie."

"I had twin boys once…a long time ago," Mars said, his voice lost and distant. "Good boys, fine boys. Who is the elder? You or your sister?"

"Sophie," Josh replied, lips curling into a sudden smile at the thought. "But only by twenty-eight seconds."

"And do you love your sister?"

Josh felt taken a back. "Yes…well, I mean, yes, of course I do. She's my twin."

Mars nodded. "Romulus, my younger boy, said that too. He swore to me that he loved his brother, Remus. And then, he killed him."

The bone chamber went deathly silent.

Mars's eyes turned blue and wet, and Josh felt his own eyes tear up with sympathy. Then the god's tears hissed to steam and his eyes blazed again. "I had Awakened my sons' auras, gave them access to powers and abilities beyond those of the humani. All their sense and emotions were heightened, including the emotions of hate, fear, and love," he paused, then added. "They had been so close, until I Awakened their senses. Perhaps it would be better if I did not Awaken you. For your own sake and the sake of your sister."

Josh blinked in surprise and looked over his shoulder at the other two immortals. Machiavelli looked impassive, but Dee looked as stunned as he did. "Lord Mars," Dee began. "The boy must be Awakened…"

"It will be his choice."

"I demand-"

"You demand?!"

"In the name of my master's, of course," Dee said quickly. "My master demands."

"Your master can make no demands of me, Magician," Mars hissed. "And if you speak again, I will lose Phobos and Deimos on you," he inclined his head to the two creatures now perched on his shoulder. "It is a terrible death," he turned back to Josh. "This is your choice to make and yours alone. I can Awaken your powers. I can make you powerful. Dangerously powerful. Is that what you want?"

"Yes." Josh answered without hesitation.

"There is a price, for everything has a price."

"I'll pay it," Josh said immediately, though he had no idea what the price would be.

Mars nodded his great head, the stone cracking as he did. "A good response, the correct response. Asking me about the price would have been a mistake," he ignored the two creatures on his shoulder as they snickered. "There will come a time when I will remind you that you are in debt to me. Who will mentor the boy?"

"I will," Dee and Machiavelli said simultaneously.

"Magician, he is yours," Mars said after a moment's consideration. "I can read your intent and your motives clearly. You intend to use the boy to bring back the Elders; I have no doubt of that," he turned to Machiavelli. "But you…I cannot read your aura; I do not know what you want. Perhaps that is because you have not yet decided."

Rocks snapped and creaked as the god stood. He was at least seven feet tall, his helmeted head almost brushing the ceiling. "Kneel," he said to Josh, who folded to his knees. Mars tugged his huge sword free from the floor and spun it until it was directly in front of Josh's face. Josh went cross-eyed from looking at the blade. It was close, he thought it might hit him.

"What are your clan name and your parents' names?"

Josh felt his mouth go dry. "The clan name? Oh, the family name is Newman. My father is Richard and my mother is Sara."

"Josh, son of Richard and Sara of the Clan Newman, of the race humani, I will grant you an Awakening. You have acknowledged that this is no gift and there will be a price to pay. If you do not pay it, I will destroy you and everything you hold dear.

"I'll pay."

"I know you will," the huge sword moved, first touching Josh's right shoulder, then his left before moving back to his right. The faintest outline of his aura winked into existence around his body. Wisps of smoke started to curl off his blonde hair, and the scent of citrus grew strong. "Henceforth you will see with acuity…"

Josh's bright blue eyes turned into solid gold discs. Immediately, tears gathered and ran down his face. They were the color and texture of liquid gold.

"You will hear with clarity…"

Smoke coiled from his ears.

"You will taste with purity…"

Josh opened his mouth and coughed. A puff of saffron colored mist appeared, and tiny amber sparks danced between his tongue and teeth.

"You will touch with sensitivity…"

He brought his hands to his face. They were glowing so brightly they were almost transparent. Sparks leapt and curled between each finger, and his badly chewed fingernails were polished mirrors.

"You will smell with intensity…"

Josh's head was almost completely surrounded in golden smoke. It trickled from his nostrils, making it look as if he were breathing fire. His aura had thickened, solidified around his shoulders and across his chest, becoming shiny and reflective.

Mars's sword moved again, tapping lightly against his shoulders. "Truly, yours is one of the most powerful auras I've ever encountered," he said quietly. "There is something else I can give you, a gift, and this I give freely. You may find it of use in the days to come." Stretching out his left hand, he rested it atop Josh's head. Instantly, Josh's aura burst into incandescent light. Streamers and globes of yellow fire curled from his body and bounced around the room. Phobos and Deimos were caught by the blast of light and heat, and it sent them squealing and scrambling behind the stone plinth, but not before their pale skin had reddened and the pips of their snow white hair had darkened and crisped. The searing light had drove Dee to his knees, hands pressed against his eyes. Machiavelli was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the light faded as Mars dropped his hand away from his head and Josh's aura winked out of existence. Josh swayed, falling backwards, only to be caught by Machiavelli. Dee stood up, rubbing his eyes in annoyance as he glared at the Italian. "And where did you go?"

"I left. It was too bright."

Before Dee could give a snide remark, the scent of vanilla, lavender, and mint filled the tunnel. Machiavelli groaned, shifting the unconscious Josh in his arms as if he were carrying a bride. "We need to leave. Now."

Dee nodded. "That's one thing we can agree on," he glanced around, watching as the Elder shifted back into his seat. "I know where this tunnel comes out. We can escape, and take care of anyone that comes out that needs to be destroyed."

Machiavelli only gave a cryptic response. "If they come out, that is."

* * *

**Word count: 4,222**

_Well, the only thing I have left to say for this chapter is review! Wooh almost out of The Magician!_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's note: **__Yeah! Joan, Sophie, and Flamel VS Dee! We'll see how this goes. Now I have to go help my aunt pack furniture! Yay…._

_**Warnings: **__None _

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own the series. The only thing I own is this bowl of ice cream sitting right next to me and a cat._

* * *

_**(With Dee, Josh, and Machiavelli, Roof of Notre Dame, June 3)**_

"Never…again…in…my…life…will I climb…that…many…stairs…"

Machiavelli took a tentative step forward, his legs feeling like jelly as he did. He had just climbed one thousand and one steps up out of the catacombs with an unconscious Awakened teenager in his arms. Exhaling largely, he slowly walked over to the railing, setting Josh down on the ground with the lower railing supporting his body. Machiavelli stared down at the boy gently, almost in sympathy.

"I hope it was worth it," he muttered, more to himself than the boy. "This is not going to be an easy road for you."

He looked out over the city, uneasiness piling in his stomach. He'd just been phoned earlier that the police had found a dinosaur covered in stone sitting in the middle of an alleyway. The Disir was still running about in the city, and he didn't know how long the stone would imprison the Nidhogg. If he could give the monster back to them, they would recapture it and do something with it. He didn't know, and he didn't particularly feel like finding out. If the Nidhogg were to free itself, more people would get hurt. Humani were replaceable, but that didn't mean he wanted needless death to occur.

"When is Dee going to get here?" he asked himself, remembering the doctor had stayed behind to take care of their unwanted company.

The sound of Josh groaning averted his attention away from his thoughts. Kneeling down, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder, only to have the boy pull away. Josh shook his head, his face alarmingly pale and clammy. "Hurts…" he muttered. "Everything hurts…"

"Josh," Machiavelli spoke gently. "I know it feels like it's all too much, but you have to stay calm. This will pass. For now, just keep your eyes closed."

"My head hurts!"

He frowned at that. When he was Awakened, his head didn't hurt. But Mars had passed down something to the boy through his head, so that was probably the reason. Yet, he had no idea how to tell the boy how to handle it.

"John, you better get up here," he muttered. "After all, this is your apprentice."

* * *

_**(Catacombs of Paris, With Sophie, Joan, Flamel, and Dee)**_

"Sophie, I think it would be best if we returned to the surface."

"No. Not until we find Josh."

Flamel narrowed his eyes at the girl. "He isn't here now. He's returned to the surface, where we should return to."

Joan looked at the younger girl, who was glaring at Dee with such hatred that she in turn almost felt afraid. The four of them were standing in the opening of the bone structure, with Dee standing only a few feet away at the opposite end. Joan stood next to Sophie in a V formation, with Nicholas in the far middle. Turning her gaze back to the English man, she spoke. "Sophie, though I have no doubt in your abilities, perhaps it is best if we don't fight him. Not here anyway," she looked hesitantly at the bodies carved into the walls and ceilings. "This is a burial ground."

Sophie only glared at the Magician harder. "I want answers," she demanded, completely ignoring the other two. "Where. Is. My. Brother?" she demanded through clenched teeth. Dee only smirked, which seemed to infuriate her. "ANSWER ME!"

Flamel cast the Magician a dirty look. "Stop aggravating her, John," he crossed his arms over his black T-shirt. "What have you done with the boy?"

"Oh, you mean Josh?" Dee answered as if he were talking to old friends. "I Awakened him."

The room went silent, The Magician's words hanging in the air like a knife. Joan's eyes widened and she felt her mouth go dry. There was no one in Paris that she knew of who could do such a thing, so then…who had done it? Or was Dee toying with them? "How?" she demanded in a tone that would have made soldiers stand to attention. "There is no one in Paris that can do that."

The smile on Dee's face grew wider. "You're wrong," he taunted, looking at Sophie in amusement as the girl bit her lip in anger. "The Immortal who Awakened him is in these Catacombs."

"Who?"

The smile on Dee's face glowed in the light, making it look absolutely terrifying. "The Elder Mars Awakened him. And for a price, of course. The Elder is now his master and I am his mentor," he sounded pleased with himself. "Does this make you mad, Alchemyst?"

Flamel didn't say anything, but his eyes darkened with anger. Joan felt her lip curl back in disgust at the thought of a child being a slave to a dangerous Elder. "_Monstre_," she spat out, her aura forming a gauntlet around her hand as she pulled out her sword. "I've always held dislike for you, but that has changed. You're a _Dégoûtant monstre! _Worse than scum!"

Flamel nodded. "I figured you would do something like this," he took a deep breath. "I should have kept a closer eye on Josh…" he trailed off in dismay.

Sophie took a step forward, her sneakers squeaking against the cold floor. "You kidnapped my brother…Awakened him against his will…you do know he's probably in a lot of pain right now, don't you?"

Dee nodded, glancing back to the way where Machiavelli had left. "Which is why I should go back to him," he bowed in farewell toward the others. "Oh, and Sophie," he said with a smile. "I didn't kidnap him. He came with me on his own free will. I never forced him to do anything."

Sophie growled. "No he didn't! Josh wouldn't leave me! He wouldn't! You're lying!" she shook off Flamel's hand as he tried to speak to her. "Give him back to me!"

"I didn't know you owned him," Dee sneered. "I believe Josh doesn't have to answer to you. In fact, in his own mind, you abandoned him."

Sophie blinked in surprise. "What?"

Dee sighed impatiently. "Think about it, if that's possible for you," he dismissed her angry glare. "You were Awakened before him, he was kicked out of the Witch's shop and you didn't even acknowledge him, and you didn't even come back for him when the Witch opened a leygate. In his mind, you left him all alone."

Joan could only watch in horror as Dee's words sunk into Sophie's mind. The girl's lower lip trembled and she shook her head, bringing her hands to her face. "No…" she said to herself. "I didn't…I was on my way back to him and the leygate disappeared…"

"_You left him all alone!"_ Dee taunted in a sing song way.

"ENOUGH!" Joan shouted. "Leave her alone!"

Dee only wagged a gloved finger at her. "It is rude for a lady to shout in public," he chided and then waved his hand at them. "Now I really must be leaving. Machiavelli does get impatient after a while when he has to wait for people. And with Josh dealing with being Awakened, I have to go help him."

As he walked away, Sophie darted forward, her aura hardening around her body and the scent of vanilla bloomed into the air. "You're not leaving until I get him back!"

Joan cursed in French and ran after the girl, Flamel following close behind her. She truly didn't doubt the girl's abilities, but with her emotions bursting out of control, she wasn't even aware of what she was doing. She could kill them all if she wasn't careful. Not to mention Dee knew perfectly well that she was not focused and could, no would, take advantage of that.

Sophie let out a war cry, a gust of wind shooting out of her hands and blasting out all over the catacombs. It hit all of them, the wind biting so sharply that they had to cover their faces with their hands. "Sophie!" Flamel called out. "Stop it!"

Sophie ignored him, running towards Dee who was now on his knees and brought her hands up. She moved her right hand over the tattoo on her left hand, the fingers barely ghosting over the mark as a tiny spark flew out. Joan's face paled and her eyes temporarily closed, her mouth fighting against the wind that was continuing to blast over them. "SOPHIE! NO!" She screamed out. "DON'T USE THE FIRE!"

_SMACK!_

Joan opened her eyes, the wind immediately dying down. Her eyes went to the size of golf balls as Dee had Sophie by the wrist, the English man staring at the girl cruelly before he bent the wrist in the wrong direction. The girl screamed, pulling at his hand, her aura flaring around her. Dee only smirked. "You should never use fire in anger," he reprimanded. "Don't you listen to your teachers?"

He flung her into the wall, the sound of her cry piercing through the air. Joan flew forward, sword raised above her head. "How dare you!" she snarled. "How dare you hurt her!"

Dee's aura winked into existence, the foul smelling aura creating a shield around his body as Joan's sword barreled down on him. He drew out Excalibur, the aura fading, and the two blades hissed and scratched around each other. Flamel hurried over to Sophie, checking over the girl as she blinked back to consciousness. "She's okay Joan!" he called out, helping her stand to her feet. "We need to get out of here! Before something worse happens!"

Joan didn't even glance at him. "I'm a bit busy right now!" she dodged a swipe to the head, using the right of her blade to cut his leg. He hissed in pain, but continued to assault her anyway. "Nicholas, get Sophie out of here!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine!"

Sophie tugged away from Nicholas. "I'm not leaving you, Joan!" she called out, her aura flaring once again around her body. "I won't leave you behind!"

Joan flashed a brief smile. "Sophie, you're not ready to fully take on Dee. Go back to Scatty and Francis. I will return; I promise!"

Sophie shook her head. "I'm not leaving you!" she threw herself at Dee, their auras smacking against each other. The force sent a wave through the catacombs, brimstone and vanilla mixing together. Sophie curled her fist, sending it across Dee's face and into the right side of his jaw. The immortal cried out, covering his jaw and dropping the sword.

Flamel glanced at Sophie in an odd way. "You diverted Dee's attention by punching him in the jaw?" he only blinked once. "You continue to amaze me, Sophie."

Joan glanced around the catacombs as a skull fell from the ceiling. "We should have left a long time ago," she said, ushering the other two back towards the sewers. "We have disturbed a burial ground and if we disturb it more, we will destroy it completely."

Flamel nodded. "Agreed. I refuse to be the reason that a burial ground was destroyed."

Sophie glanced back at Dee, who had disappeared along with Excalibur. "But what about Josh?"

Joan took the girl's hand, staring at her grimly. "There is nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Sophie."

_**(With Machiavelli and Josh)**_

"You're bleeding."

Dee glared the Italian, holding his injured leg. "Genius observation," he snarled impatiently. "That woman, Joan of Arc, cut me with her sword."

"Your jaw is also bruised."

Dee stared at Machiavelli incredulously. "You are on the ball today. How many other injuries are you going to point out?" he snapped, sarcasm dripping out of his voice. "The humani girl punched me."

Machiavelli looked impressed. "She did that?" he asked, noticing the rather large bruise that was forming on his accomplice's face. "Impressive. I'm surprised you didn't kill her on the spot."

"I would have, but she is needed by our masters so I won't. But the next time I see her, I'll make sure it won't be pretty," he sighed, adjusting his suit. "How is the boy?"

Machiavelli glanced down at Josh, stepping aside to show he unconscious teenager. "He's been in and out of consciousness. He keeps saying that his head hurts. I'm thinking it's because of the gift that Mars passed down to him."

Dee brushed past Machiavelli, kneeling down to look at the American teenager. He moved the boy's blonde bangs out of his eyes, watching as his eyes fluttered behind closed lids. "He'll be fine," he said after a few minutes. "He just needs to rest."

"I'll call for a car to come and get us. I wonder if Dagon had defeated Scathach yet…" Machiavelli trailed off as he brought his phone to his ear.

Dee could only stare off into the distance, the pain in his leg pulsating. '_Damn the French woman! Damn Flamel! Damn the humani girl! Damn them all!' _he cursed to himself. _'I guarantee I will make them suffer!'_

Machiavelli eyed him nonchalantly. "The car will meet us at the bottom. I suggest we move," he glanced down at Josh. "I suppose that with your injured leg that I will have to carry him again?"

"What do you think?!"

* * *

_**Word count: 2,352**_

_Review please! They make me extremely happy! XD_


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